Promise Me You'll Never Leave Me
by SoCalSlezy
Summary: Based on the movie "Charlie St. Cloud." Emily and her sister are involved in a fatal car accident which claims the life of her sister, but spares her. What happens when the heartbroken Emily can still see her dead sister whom she promised to never leave, but Emily will soon realize that promise will be hard to keep as a certain blonde comes into her life.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on Emily, you promised", yelled Emily's 12 year old sister Zane, as she ran full speed into Emily's room, jumped on her bed two times, and smacked her a few times. Emily groaned and pulled her covers over her head even more. Zane pouted and tugged at the covers a few times until she finally was able to yank it off of Emily. The small force sent Zane tumbling back into Emily's clothes hampers. Zane growled and got up to find a smiling Emily looking at her. "

"Haha. Nice one monkey, I thought you guys had better hand-eye coordination than that" teased Emily and shook her hands and pointed to her eye for emphasis. Zane stuck her tongue out at Emily and picked up the nearest item handy to her, which happened to be a flimsy black dirty sock, and flung it at Emily. Emily burst into laughter as the sock hit her right on the nose. "Haha. Yuck this is so gross"

"It is YOUR sock" Zane retorted.

"You know, I think I forgot to whither in pain when you angrily chucked a SOCK at my face." Emily' last statement whipped the smile off Zane's face, as she realized how sucky of a weapon a sock is. Emily smirked; she knew she had Zane there.

"Now would you like to tell me, why you barged in here ripping covers off me and what not?" asked Emily.

"Emmmmmm" Zane began, putting way too much emphasis on the "M". "You said you were going to help me practice you promised, remember?" she whinnied. Zane, just like Emily was training to become an elite swimmer. Emily loved swimming almost more than anything in the world. When her parents first introduced swimming to her, she instantly fell in love; they nearly had to drag her out of the pool on numerous occasions. Shortly after she mastered swimming, she went deep sea diving on a boat for the first time and she quickly found her second love. Then, when Zane was born, Emily could not wait until she got older so she could teach Zane everything she knew about the pool and diving. Just as Emily, Zane instantly took a huge liking to the two sports.

"I know. I haven't forgotten monkey calm down. I was just trying to sleep in a little, I did kind of you know, graduate last night cut me some slack" Emily reasoned. Emily got of her bed and stretched her arms out wildly and grazed Zane on the side of her face.

"Hey. Watch it jerk. My face is not to your laysha" Zane snapped and moved Emily's arm.

Emily shook her head "_Leisure _monkey, its pronounced leisure" Emily corrected her and began searching for her swimsuit.

Zane rolled her eyes, "Whatever it's called, my face is not it"

Emily turned around and just smiled at the tan child in front of her. As much as she bugs and annoys her, Emily cannot get enough of her "Monkey" Zane. She often refers to Zane as her child, or her kid because their mom is more often than not ever home. She is a trauma surgeon who is on call 24/7. It's just Emily and Zane majority of the time but in a way Emily wouldn't have it any other way. A part of her despises her mom for treating Zane the way she does, sure Emily can handle it, she's basically grown now, but Zane is still a baby, she's only 11, she needs her mom's love and time.

Having Zane around has played a huge part in Emily growing up and maturing. She has definitely missed out on many parties and other fun affairs because she had to stay home and look after Zane. By all means, Emily loves Zane it's just sometimes she wishes she could utter a simple _"yes"_ rather than a _"sorry guys, I have to look after Zane, maybe next time."_ Also, another reason why Emily calls Zane her kid is because they have a very uncanny resemblance that reaches beyond sisters. They look like one in the same. They have the same tan skin tone, thick black hair, athletic build, almond shaped eyes, and they have the same mole on the top of their mouths. The only distinct differences between them are: Emily is obviously taller, older, and Zane has a very unique birthmark on her forearm that is shaped like a monkey's paw, hence why Emily calls her monkey.

"Okay, so sport, I'm going to hop in the shower and how about we head out to the lake instead of the pool" she asks. Zane's eyes immediately got wide and a huge smile formed on her face.

"Seriously!" she exclaimed. Emily always knew how to make her little sister ecstatic. Zane couldn't wait to get out to the lake and just swim freely for miles, unlike how she can swim in their backyard pool. Even though they live in a mansion with an almost Olympic size pool, there was always an end wall that sometimes got on Zane's nerves.

_She always told Emily "Our pool just doesn't do it for me sometimes" she groaned, "I mean, sometimes I just want to swim and go for miles instead of having to keep turning around once I hit the wall. I need to get out my problems Em," she sighed over dramatically which caused Emily to snicker._

_"You're 11 monkey, what _problems_ can you possibly have" she asked._ Emily sometimes couldn't deal with how hilarious Zane was, however, she had to admit the kid was smarter, and more mature than you average 11 year old.

_"Look don't worry about it alright, I got it, I got it," she said in her best attempt at an Italian-gangster accent, which was actually quite good._

"Yes I'm serious so I'll tell you what, I will meet you at the Lake in 45 minutes but, let's make this interesting shall we. So here's the deal, the last one there makes the other swim as many laps as they want, deal" she proposes.

Zane stared Emily right in the eye and appeared to ponder what Emily just told her. Emily held her stare even though she knows Zane will accept it; she is always fair game for any time of competition. Zane offered her hand and smiled cunningly and said "Deal". Emily shook her hand and checked her clock on the wall and waited until the long hand hit the 12 and soon as it did, they both glanced at each other and took off into the hallway to get ready. Zane headed to one bathroom and Emily the other.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I just wanna thank all who reviewed and alerted, it made me smile... a lot :) It's my first story ever so I'm glad people are enjoying it so far. Also, I'm going to add more aspects to this story that weren't in the movie "Charlie St. Cloud" (I just want to develop character's relationships with each other and so on.) Any suggestions or mistakes please let me know, please review, and I hope you enjoy!**

Both girls raced to get ready, so they could beat the other. Emily has been on many different swim teams, so she knows how to get ready really quickly. She was showered and ready in about 20 minutes. By the time she was done she still heard Zane in her room frantically getting ready. She smiled to herself as she pictured Zane trying to win the bet so badly. Emily gathered the essentials they would need for the day, which included: goggles, caps, two towels (just in case Zane forgot hers), two blankets, and their stereo of course for after. She waited a few more minutes and decided to head on down to the lake. They lived about 5 minutes away from Lake Rosewood; it was a huge lake that Emily and her family have been going to ever since she was little. It was so serene there and the water was beautiful. Whenever they were not swimming, Emily and Zane loved to just chill on the sand and soak in the sun all day. At night they loved to bring a radio, some blankets, and snacks to gaze up at the stars. Emily approached the Lake and Zane was nowhere in sight. _'Oh Zane you can't even win after I give you a head start_.' Emily sat everything in her hand down, and waited for her sister to arrive. About ten minutes later Emily heard rapid footsteps and turned around and saw Zane sprinting towards her with her towel slung over her shoulders. Once Zane saw Emily sitting on the sand she slowed down and frowned. She slumped towards Emily and Emily couldn't help but feel bad, her monkey looked so disappointed.

"I see you've made it first" Zane deadpanned.

"Don't be like that monkey, it's just my uh, you know, mad skills" Emily joked and popped her shirt collar in an attempt to cheer the young girl up. Zane just stared at Emily.

"Fine you made me do this...come here" she lunged at Zane had started tickling her in all her sweet spots. Zane let out many high pitch sequels and tried running away and squirming out of Emily's grasp. Emily wasn't having it however; she was way stronger and would not let her go. She tickled her in her most sensitive spots that included her underarms, her ribs, and the back part of her knees. "Are..you..[_tickle_]..gonna..cheer..[_tickle_].. up" Emily asked in the midst of her tickling attack.

"Yes. Yes. Please" Zane pleaded. Emily stopped, and let her sister go, Emily chuckled as she saw Zane wiping her eyes as she was crying from laughing so much. Emily felt so much better now that she got to cheer her sister to cheer up; she really hated seeing Zane be a bad sport.

"Okay. Now that we got that out of you, I only want two laps from you...BUT make them good ones" Emily warned. Zane began walking towards the water until Emily called after her. "Wait, lets go up the hill past the mini cliffs and let's jump," she said. Emily and Zane were also divers, after they became advanced swimmers they dedicated some of their efforts to becoming proficient divers. They walked up the trail and approached the little cliff.

"Okay let's jump, you ready?" Emily asked. Zane looked at Emily nervously and shook her head. Zane was a pro at diving and jumping off the cliffs; it's just always before the actual jump, her nerves kicked in. They walked back a few feet and started running forward. Emily was behind Zane and stuck her foot out and tripped Zane. Zane almost fell face first on the ground; luckily at the last minute her arms caught her fall.

Zane slowly got up and turned around to glare at Emily who was laughing hysterically.

"What was that for?" she glared while rubbing her hands, and checking her knees and face for any scratches.

"Haha. It was funny" Emily shrugged.

"Consider yourself lucky. You have no idea what you could have done. You could have scratched my face, and then I would have had to kill you. This is very delicate okay. It's too pretty for scratches." Zane said pointing to her face. Zane chose not to get her back at this moment; instead she made a mental note to get her back later. Emily rolled her eyes and apologized as they headed toward the end of the cliff. Emily jumped first and did a near perfect somersault into the water. She hit the water hard and resurfaced seconds later. She looked up and saw Zane still standing at the edge.

"Don't be scared monkey just count to three and jump," she yelled.

_1. 2. 3_, Zane counted and flung herself off the edge and jumped. Emily smiled and Zane fell carefree into the water. She turned her head the other direction as Zane splashed into the water. Zane floated to the top and smiled.

"Em did you see that, I did a perfect corkscrew in the air" she beamed.

"Yeah I saw it, it looked fun" she responded.

They swam around for hours until their skin looked like prunes. They raced, worked on techniques, walked back to the top and jumped repeatedly, sat in the shallow closer to the shore when they were tired, and of course spent countless minutes dunking and body slamming each other in the water. They had so much fun that the laps Zane owed Emily slipped both of their minds. They got out the water after sunset as it got dark and ran for their towels.

"It is sooo ccccold" Zane shivered.

"Here" Emily tossed Zane her towel and wrapped her up in the extra towel she brought. Zane tapped Emily in appreciation, and brought the towel up to her lips because she was pretty certain her lips were frozen. They then assembled their blankets and rested on the sand.

"How many stars do you think is up there Emmy" Zane asked, sprawled on her back, gazing at the sky. She loves watching the stars, she has a great attraction with them, but she doesn't really have any idea of what they are; she just knows it's many of them, and that they are pretty. She waiting for Emily to answer and after a few moments she sat up and found Emily's eyes closed.

She threw her arms in the air with slight annoyance. "It's only been like 3 freaking minutes." She mumbled testily. She knew there was no way Emily fell asleep that quickly, so she decided to mess with her until she answered her question. She smiled and proceeded to poke Emily in her neck, but frowned when she didn't react. She created a little rhythm and poked her 3 more times, and on the 4th time Emily snagged Zane's finger. "Finally." Shouted Zane.

"You're such a little nuisance" Emily remarked still with her eyes closed.

Zane grimaced with confusion, "A what?" she asked.

Emily sat up and opened her eyes, "You're a pain," shrieked Emily.

"Oh. Knew that already," she chaffed. She smiled at the mad look she was received from Emily. "Seriously though." She began. "You did all of that _just_ to call me a pain. You could have just said _Zane you're a pain_. You went all Spencer on me" she said.

"Ha. I don't think Spencer would appreciate us poking at her intelligence." She pointed out.

"Spencer needs to man up then" Zane said. And with a quick laugh, they both laid back down.

Emily opened her eyes after a few moments, "Trillions" she said.

Zane glanced at Emily perplexed, but before she could ask what was she talking about Emily began talking.

"You asked how many stars there are," she stated. "I don't think there is a exact number but my guess would be Trillions. There's so many out there, it's impossible to count them all," she answered.

Zane focused on the dots of light in the sky, and attempted to count the one's she saw. Emily waited for Zane to respond and ask her another question but all she got was silence. She turned her head and saw Zane staring bullets into the sky, with a look of complete concentration. Considering their conversation, Emily knew exactly what her little sister was doing.

"_Please _tell me you are not trying to count them." Emily pleaded and elbowed her.

"Well, you said that they are impossible to count, and you know I'm _always _up for a challenge." Zane said confidently.

"Good luck with that one."

"Well, why are the up there, and what is up there? " Zane wondered.

Emily squinted her eyes, a habit she does when she is thinking. She doesn't know the actual scientific answer to the question, but she has her own theory that she provides for her sister.

"It just so happens to be, that they are there to provide monkeys like you, the way to find bananas," she said.

Zane lifted her leg and kicked Emily. "Shut up" she said. "Seriously Em what's the reason" she added.

"I don't know if this is right but I think the stars are there to guide us all and lend us a helping hand when we need it. Any and everything is up there Zane. Our hopes, dreams, futures, people who are looking out for us" she trailed off.

"Like angels?" asked Zane

"Yeah, like angels. Angels are up there guiding us," she said. They sat in a comfortable silence, both thinking about what was just said. Emily began thinking of her dad, whom she misses terribly. Her dad catered to her and Zane so much, even though Zane may not remember too much about their Father. Emily was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a very soft voice ask her something.

"Do you think daddy is up there?" Zane whispered. Emily turned her head and looked at Zane. The question no doubtingly caught the older Fields by surprise. Zane rarely talks about their dad because she was only 7 years old when he died.

"Of course he is. He is watching us everyday, and protecting us. He's with us constantly… just not you know, physically here" she whispered the latter part more so to herself.

Zane nodded, "I miss daddy" she admitted. Even though she was younger she still thinks of her dad. She misses his personality the most. Her and her dad joked around about everything; they were very similar in that way.

A tiny sob escaped Emily's chest upon hearing what Zane said. Emily missed her father Wayne so much. He was pretty much responsible for her love for the water; he introduced her to swimming, sailing, and diving on boats. Yes, Pam was involved too but it was never really her passion unlike it was his. He was the most fun loving guy she's ever come across. He was the backbone of their family, and once he died their family slowly started drifting. Their mother Pam began throwing herself into work as if that eased her Pain. She started increasing her hours and became more absent and vacant at home. Emily was left to deal with her confused and sad little sister.

"I know" she began. "I miss him too so much. But you know what, like you said he's our angel, and he's looking after us" she said softly.

"And you know what else he's watching? He's watching how you bite your nails every day. What's up with that?" she teased as she held Zane's hand.

"I can't help it, I just can't kick the addiction." she whined and took her hand from Emily's grasp. Emily shook her head, as always, leave it Zane to be the over dramatic.

"You are not addicted to anything Zane, how do you even know what that means?" she laughed.

Zane scoffed at her sister "Umm I know things duh" she grumbled but couldn't keep it up because she instantly burst into laughter. Her laughter subdued and she sighed heavily.

"Hey what's wrong" Emily asked.

"It's not going to be like this anymore, when you leave" she said. Emily nodded her head and quickly understood what her sister was getting at. In three months Emily will be heading to Stanford University on a full swim scholarship. Emily was over the moon excited that she got into an awesome school but the only draw back was leaving her monkey behind. Zane felt the exact same way. She was so happy and proud of her big sister but she couldn't help but feel sad that she was going to be so many miles away. Whenever she felt sad, wanted a swim buddy, or just wanted to be around Emily she wouldn't be able to walk down the hall and say "Hey Em" or "Let's hit the pool Em" anymore.

"Now who is going to help me with swimming, or give me rides on our boat?" she pleaded. "Mom sure isn't a candidate...she barely even loves me" she uttered under her breath. Emily barely caught what Zane said, and immediately stood up and pulled Zane up with her. Emily placed her hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes

"Zane Fields. I don't ever, and I mean ever, want to hear you say that again you hear me?" Emily demanded. Zane just rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's true anyways," she muttered.

Emily lightly shook Zane shoulders as an attempt to get her point across.

"No it is _not_ true. Mom loves you very much and you are everything to her," she informed her.

"Whatever" said Zane. _We both know that's a lie _she wanted to add but decided against it. There was no need arguing with Emily any further.

Emily eased her grip on Zane and let her go. "I mean what I said. Don't ever say that again, and don't ever think that way."

"When you leave, she's probably going to ship me off to boarding school or something."

"No. I will not let that happen, I promise," she vowed to the younger girl. "And besides, I'll sneak you into my dorm and you'll live with me before I let you get shipped off anywhere." she said and poked her sister in the ribs. Zane smiled and shook her head

"Yeah that would be fucking kickass Em" Zane said nonchalantly. Emily's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"What. Did. You. Say?" she demanded. Zane immediately covered her mouth with her hands. Emily couldn't believe Zane; her sweet Zane just said a curse word. _A curse word!_ Better yet she didn't say one, she said two of them! Where on Earth did she get this from? Emily has spoken a few curse words in her day, well okay maybe more than a few, but she's never cursed in front of Zane before. Apparently she's going to have to evaluate Zane's little friends and see if she picked it up from them.

"Oopsie" she giggled. "Sorry sis"

Emily tried to grab Zane, but she took off running. "You… are not...gonna... catch me" Zane said and threw the towel around her over her shoulder.

"Watch me" Emily yelled back and ignored the towel Zane threw at her.

They ran all the way to the gate of their house and Emily finally caught up to the panting Zane and picked her up. Emily flipped the light girl upside down and held up by her waist. Zane kicked moved her legs tying to break free but soon got tired.

"Now, what did you say young lady" she asked and pinched Zane's toes.

"Words that are frowned upon" came Zane's witty reply. Emily smiled at Zane's choice of words, but immediately frowned after remembering she's supposed to be _disciplining_ her.

"Don't ever ever ever say bad words okay," she told her.

"I won't, I'm a thousand times sorry" she said.

"Good." Emily said.

"EMILY" Zane yelled.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"Cant. Breath. Blood. Rushing. To. Head" she managed to breathe out.

"Oops sorry, even though it serves you right, " Emily said and flipped her over and let her down. They both laughed as Zane trickled over and fell from being dizzy but managed to give Emily a thumbs up. Emily helped the younger girl up, and they headed in the house. As soon as they entered their house, they were immediately hit with the smell of delicious food. Zane took in a large breath and inhaled the enticing aroma.

"Hey Girls." Pam greeted on bended knee checking the food in the oven. She turned the chicken adobo over and closed the oven. She turned and took in the crazy appearance of her two daughters sweating in swimming suits this late. "I see you've been in the water," she added.

"Hey mom," both girls said in unison.

"Yeah, I took Zane out to the lake." Emily explained.

Pam smiled down at her younger daughter "Oh that sounds fun, did you have a nice time sweetheart?" she asks.

Zane nodded her head, "Oh yeah today was great" she exclaimed. Her stomach grumbled, and she remembers she hasn't eaten all day.

"Mom what's for dinner, I'm starved." She said and patted her tummy.

"Well little one, I am making your favorite," she teased and poked her daughter in the stomach. Pam sees Emily roll her eyes. Zane's eyes however sky rocketed.

"Chicken Abodo?" Zane yells. Pam nods her head yes in response.

"Booyah!" yells Zane. She took in a deep breath and sighed. "How many more minutes mom?" she asked.

"Just about 5 more minutes honey, why don't you go upstairs and change out of that swimsuit" she tells Zane. Zane uttered an okay in response and headed upstairs until Emily grabbed her arm.

"We totally forgot all of our things at the lake," she shrieked. Emily began thinking and made a note of everything they left: Their iHome radio, her towel, her flip flops, Zane's flip flops, and both of their caps and goggles. She's not sure where Zane's towel ended up; she just remembers it getting flung towards her face when she began chasing Zane.

"Oh my gosh. We did! What the heck where we thinking?" she replied.

"Someone decided to say bad words, so I had to teach them a lesson."Emily whispered lowly out of Pam's earshot and softly tapped Zane on the side of her face. "You're not off the hook either."

"Emily don't hit your sister." Pam orders.

Emily shakes her head. "I barely touched her." she stared at her mom, then faced back towards Zane.

"I'll just have Tobes drop by the Lake and bring it to us." she says. Zane nodded her head and headed upstairs. Pam walked to the bottom of the staircase, leaned on the rail, and yelled up the stairs to tell Zane if she ate all her veggies, she will make her a yummy desert. Emily rolled her eyes and sighed irritably.

"You acting very momish." she says, her tone full of sarcasm. Emily finds it pointless what Pam does to her and her sister. One minute she's the devoted mom, the next split second she's shut off, and vacant again.

"Well, that's my job isn't it?" Pam cleared her throat, trying not to seem fazed by Emily's comments.

Emily shrugs, " Oh, I don't know, I just thought the hospital was your one and only job." Emily responded. "You just seem to love it oh so much, every now and then you tend to forget you have a small child."

Pam slammed the knife she was holding to cut onion slices down on the granite countertop. "What do you want Emily? You want me to quit my job huh? Then what? We'll be homeless, car-less, and broke." the tone in her voices rises.

Emily laughs darkly, "You have money, that has never been a problem. Don't make it seem like we are scraping to get by. You need to stop this game mom, and be there for her, because in a few months I will be gone and it will be just you and her and-" Emily was cut off my Zane entering the kitchen. Emily relaxed and sat back into her seat.

"Uhh. What's going on?" she asked and looked back and fourth from the two. What Emily and Pam didn't know was Zane heard their whole exchange on the top of the staircase.

"Nothing, dinner is ready." Pam announced.

Zane skipped to their dining table and smiled at her mom when she sat her plate down. "Thanks Ma."

The three of them ate dinner quietly. The only sound came from Zane who hummed a tune as she gulped her favorite dish. Emily and Pam attempted to ignore each other's gaze the entire time. Whenever one caught the other looking, they would both look down quickly. Following dinner Pam, as promised, baked Zane a batch of extra chocolaty brownies. After Pam washed the dishes, she headed upstairs for bed. Emily and Zane decided to pop in a movie.

"What do you want to watch monkey?" she asks.

Zane searched through their DVD holder, looking for a movie to watch. "Hmmm. I think I have a feeling for a drama," she suggested. She continued looking until she found her favorite movie.

"OH" she squealed and showed Emily the movie. "I've been dying to watch_ Dear John_ for the longest!" Zane exclaimed. Emily nodded her head, and told Zane to pop it in. About 5 minutes into the movie Emily paused it to pop popcorn, and poured them two glasses of cherry soda. Just as Emily took the popcorn out of the microwave she heard Zane yell "Tobes here!"

Zane opened the door and quickly let Toby in once she saw how full his hands were. He came bearing a radio, three towels, and blankets.

"Shesh that's so much stuff, how did you carry all of that?" she asked.

He put the items in his hands down. "Better question is how did you guys carry all of that? There's more too, I wrapped the caps, goggles, and sandals inside one of the blankets." He said.

"Ah, I don't know, Em brought most of it." She indicated. "Anyway, Hi Tobe, long time no see. What gives? I've missed you," she admits and hugged him.

"Hey little one!" he beamed. Toby loved the younger girl as if she was his younger sister. He was one of Emily's best friends therefore he was constantly over their house. He often helped Zane with her homework, took her to the Lake with Emily and their other friends, and played Call of Duty with her since Emily pretty much hated video games.

"I'm sorry Z, I'm starting this new contacting job, and it's keeping me extremely busy," he says.

"Waah. You suck," she said and jumped up to yank his hair, which received and huge ouch from Toby. "Well whenever you get un-busy, me, you, and Call of Duty, pronto!" she tells him.

"Okay. I promise" he shouts, and rubs his head. "Hey have you gotten stronger, that hurt." he says.

"Have you gotten weaker, I barely gave any effort" she countered.

Before he could respond, Emily extended her head over the kitchen counter and said hey to Toby.

"Hey Em." he says as he walks to the kitchen. "I brought the stuff, I put it by the door." he adds.

"Thank you so much Tobe, I know it was short notice and all."

He shrugs, "No problem. What were you guys doing anyway, how did you manage to leave everything?" he asks, and a chuckle escaped from him. "And why did I find a towel like 25 feet away from the rest of your things?"

"Well, we were getting ready to leave, then Zane decides she wants to begin cursing, so I chased her and held her upside down until she said she'll never do it again." Emily explained. "You won't believe what she said."

Toby laughed, which made Emily asks what was so funny.

"Zane curses all the time," he said as he tried containing his laughter. Emily frowned.

"What?" She demanded. Before she can asks for more, Toby quickly said he had to go. Emily decided to let it go, and walked him to the door. He said goodbye to Zane, and hugged Emily at the doorstep. She whispered a thank you in his ear, and he kissed her check in return. Emily watched him get in his truck and drive off, and smiled to herself as she touched the spot where he kissed her cheek. She was brought out of her haze by Zane yelling.

"Toby and Emily swimming in the pool K-I-S-S-I-N-G" she chanted repeatedly.

Emily closed the door and approached Zane and softly smacked her on the side of her face yet again. "Shut up." she says and walked back into the kitchen. Zane laughs at Emily's obvious embarrassment. "That's not even how the song goes anyways," she adds.

"Oh I know," retorts Zane. "But you and Tobe both love to swim so why would you be sitting in trees?" she asks. Emily chuckled and gathered the popcorn and slumped on the couch next to her sister. Zane pushed play on the remote, grabbed the bowl from Emily, grabbed a hand full of popcorn, popped it all in her mouth, and elbowed Emily roughly on her exposed ribs. Emily groaned loudly and closed in eyes in pain.

"That's for smacking me a few minutes ago." She explained smugly.

Emily hunched over and clutched the couch arm for support and wheezed a little. "Good one."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter was not meant to be in this story, but this whole chapter was inspired from what happened to me today. I was at the dentist and saw something like this happen and I immediately went home and spent all day writing this. With that being said, I'm so sorry if this chapter seems rushed and things like that :/ but i hope you like it. Also, a huge thank you to everyone who is reading, reviewing, adding this story to your favorites, and following this story! I cannot even say how glad it makes me, you give me confidence :) Please tell me what you think in the reviews, I like to hear your thoughts! **

The next morning Emily woke up pretty early, despite their late night on the couch. She looked over at her alarm clock, and groaned once she saw it read seven thirty in the morning. This is summer time; she shouldn't be up this early. She spent enough time waking up this early for school from kindergarten to twelfth grade! This was her time to sleep in, and be lazy.

Emily sat up and pulled her extremely messy thick locks back into a sloppy pony tail, using one of the few thin black hair ties that she usually wears on her wrist. She was so tired last night that she didn't even bother to put her hair up. After doing that, she crashed herself backwards and closed her eyes. After a few minutes she pulled the blanket back atop of her.

A few more minutes went by and she threw the blanket off of her again. She tossed, she turned, she curled up in a ball, she moved every possible way but for the life of her, she could not go back to sleep. After kicking her legs in frustration, she sat up, on the edge of her bed. She laughed lightly to herself; did she really just throw a tantrum? _What a Zane move._

She got up, quickly made her bed, put on her brown moccasin slippers, and headed to her bathroom to brush her teeth, and wash her face. After brushing and washing, Emily went downstairs to grab some breakfast, and was greeted by her mother, who was sitting quietly, sipping her coffee, and reading the paper.

"Good morning Emily," Pam said nicely, giving Emily a warm smile. She put her coffee mug down, and folded the section of the Rosewood paper she was reading, giving Emily her attention.

"Morning mom," Emily muttered while approaching their kitchen cabinets, and opening them.

"How are you sweetheart?" Pam asked eying Emily.

"Fine. Could be better, if I found what I'm looking for." She said as she moved plates and bowls around. She turned to her mother, "Have you seen my bowl?" Emily asked sullenly.

Pam smiled, her expression full of chagrin. "Oh thanks honey, I'm doing fine also," She said emphasizing. It was clear she expected a less grumpy Emily, and a more joyful one.

"Sorry." Emily apologized sincerely. She tucked a few strands of hair behind her left ear, and offered a regretful smile. "How are you mom?"

"I'm fine," Pam said. She got up, glided to their dishwasher, and fetched the bowl from the top rack. "Thank you for asking," she said pushing the bowl into Emily, and returning to her seat.

"Thanks," Emily said quietly. She fumbled the bowl in her hands examining it. The bowl was large sized, but it had a nice little handle on the side, which made it look like an oversized cup. The bowl was black, with the words "I heart NY" written around it in white letters, the heart was red. One the handle, in nice cursive read the words "Emily Fields". Zane gave Emily the bowl two Christmases ago in New York. She teased Emily for two whole weeks, saying that she got her "_the best present ever"._ When Emily opened the gift she marveled at it. It was so _her._ It showcased her taste; she loved things with an odd, old school feel to it. The only draw back was having to admit to Zane, that her gift actually was the best gift ever. She dreaded that confession because once she said it, Zane walked around with the biggest chip on her shoulder for who knows how long.

Their family owns a vacation home in New York, and they occasionally spend the holidays there. Ever since she received it, that bowl has been Emily's favorite, every time she ate cereal; it was _always _in that bowl.

Emily grabbed the milk out of the fridge, and took a seat across from her mother on their large dining table. She grabbed the clear container containing Frosted Flakes and made her cereal.

"No work today?" Emily asked after chewing. After all these years, she never bothered to catch onto the days her mother worked, or the days she had off, even though it seemed like she rarely had any off days.

"No." She quipped, and took another sip of coffee. "Zane has a dentist appointment today." Pam said, matter of fact.

Emily 's eyes widened and she dropped her spoon, clearly surprised. She didn't even know Zane had the appointment, surely she's supposed to know these things! She usually takes Zane to her check ups. "What time?" Emily asked quickly while glancing at the clock. Emily doesn't like being out of the loop whenever Zane is concerned, it makes her feel like she's not doing enough.

"Her appointment is at ten thirty." Pam said. She glanced at the clock as well, making sure she wakes Zane up at an appropriate time, because she takes forever to get ready.

"Why didn't you...like, tell me?" Emily asked slightly disturbed.

Pam shrugged, unsure why Emily was reacting this way. "I don't know Emily, it wasn't a big deal. I realized she has not been to the dentist in quite a while, so I just booked an appointment" She said apprehensively.

Emily swirled her spoon around her bowl in an angry manner. Emily knows she overreacting, but she honestly can't help it. It's like with Zane, her protective instinct just releases _on its own._ Plus she knows how afraid Zane gets when she goes to the dentist, Pam certainly wouldn't be able to handle the monster Zane turns into.

"Well, good thing you told me then." Emily said and got up, taking the bowl to the sink, and putting the milk back in the fridge.

"Yeah." Pam said softy and nodded unsurely. Every time she began making effort with Zane, Emily always goes into defense mode and shut her down. It's like Emily doesn't _want_ Pam to be there or something. "Well I better go wake her up" Pam said.

"Um, no its okay. I got it." Emily assured her smiling. She woke Zane up almost everyday, today wouldn't be any different.

She rinsed her bowl out, and stuck it right back in the dishwasher. Only this time, she reminded herself to remember its location.

Emily skipped up the stairs and scurried into Zane's room. She opened the blinds, and opened the windows so her room could get fresh air. If Emily or Pam didn't open her windows, Zane's room would probably smell like a hot sauna, that girl would live in a sewer if she were allowed. She turned around, and as soon as she did, she burst into laughter. Half of Zane 's sleeping body was _hanging_ idly off of her bed. Seriously hanging, like there was no tomorrow. Her head, and her arms were completely off the bed, just hanging. Her legs were still on the bed, and the blanket was wrapped around her left leg. She looked pitifully at Zane. There was no way, her current position was comfortable, but she couldn't help but giggle.

Just as she was going to fix Zane's body, a sinister thought came to her. Well, not really sinister, all she was going to do was take a picture and show everyone. She strolled down the hallway, into her room, and picked up her iPhone and smiled_. Oh yeah, this is going to be a good one,_ she thought to herself. She ran back into Zane's room and squatted next to her dangling body. She threw her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, and extended her arm to snap three photos.

"Wait until you get a load of these pictures my little Zaney." She whispered and stood back up. She sat her phone on Zane's nightstand, and she carefully grabbed her sister's upper body and guided it back to her bed. Of course, by the subtle movement, Zane didn't wake up. In fact, it seemed like it made her sleeping endeavor even better, because her mouth was now gapped wide open.

"Zane," Emily called softly. "It's wakey wakey time." She nudged her shoulders a few times, trying to wake her. She then proceeded to playfully smack her cheeks, which still didn't make a difference. Emily put her hands on both sides of Zane's head, and pretended to squeeze it tightly, with a mad scientist type expression on her face. That's how ridiculous her sleeping habits are.

"I'm not kidding anymore, Zane, you have to get up now. You have a dentist appointment, and you know how long it takes you to get ready." Emily stood up, sat right on Zane's legs, and bounced up and down a few times. "Yeah that should do you good, a nice little one hundred and thirty pounds should wake you up".

Zane popped one of her eyes slightly open, confirming what she thought was happening. She took a breath, and yanked her legs up with all her might, causing Emily to nearly fall off the bed. "Are you _trying_ to break my legs or something?" Zane asked sharply. "You are too fat for that." She said rudely bringing her legs closer to her.

Emily gasped, then rolled her eyes. Zane just called her fat! She's lucky she just woke up, or else Emily would have attacked her with tickles until she begged and pleaded for her to stop.

"And she's up," Emily smiled falsely. "Seriously though, waking you up every morning is nuts, why do you sleep like you haven't been to sleep in years?"

Zane stretched, and sat up facing Emily. "I'm not really sleep, I just like watching you make a fool out of yourself trying to wake me up." She teased.

"Yuck. Morning breath," Emily said pushing Zane's face away from hers.

Her action caused Zane to erupt in laughing. "Oh yeah?" She asked, playfully pouncing on Emily. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" She said, blowing her breath in Emily's face.

"Nooooo" Emily screamed. She used her arm length to her advantage by pushing Zane away.

"You REALLY need to clean your room. You're becoming a bit of a slob." Emily said while scrunching her nose. She looked around at the mess that Zane calls a room. There was a pile of (presumably dirty) clothes laying in front of Zane's closer door, a sloppy stack of books that were sitting _next_ to her bookshelf, not _on_ the bookshelf, but _next_ to the bookshelf. There were two Nike shoeboxes in the middle of the floor that Zane never bothered to throw away, even though she bought the shoes almost four months ago.

"Oh my God, Zane what is that?" Emily asked referring to a plate under Zane's bed that had _something_ on it, Emily couldn't decide.

"Oh, that's a hotdog." She answered nonchalantly. "I didn't finish it so I stuck it under my bed, and I guess I forgot it was down there." Zane said letting a few giggles escape. She was watching a movie when she snuck that hotdog upstairs; Pam, and Emily have their "rules" about eating in any place, other than the kitchen. She was watching some movie she couldn't exactly remember what it was, Kung Fu Panda maybe? She didn't know why she grabbed the hotdog in the first place because she wasn't even hungry. Perhaps, she fancied the idea of laying down relaxing, drinking a cold glass of lemonade, eating a warm hotdog, and watching a nice movie. Anyways, she stuck the hotdog that only endured a few bites, under her bed, and told herself that when the movie was over, she would take it back downstairs.

She had forgot.

"That is seriously sick. It doesn't even look like a hotdog anymore. It's turning green. Zane, how long has that been sitting under there?" Emily asked with a sour expression.

"Ummm." Zane mumbled. She was almost embarrassed to answer this question, which is shocking. It takes quite a bit to embarrass Zane Fields. "I think like five days."

Emily almost gagged. Five days? How gross is that? "Gross. I can't even think of a better word to describe it."

"Isn't it disgusting?" Zane asked imitating Emily's unnecessary tirade. Come on, who doesn't have a couple of shirts, shorts, socks and _maybe_ a hot dog or two lying around in their here and there? If she had to say so, she thought her room was pretty neat.

"You're like a little boy," Emily said teasingly. That was for calling Emily fat.

Zane hissed under her breath, Emily was going to pay for that one.

"Come here Em, get a whiff off the morning breath." Zane yelled. She had Emily in a headlock, and she huffed her breath right into Emily's face.

Emily wiggled herself out of the headlock, and pinned Zane down with her arms extended behind her back. Zane kicked her legs aimlessly trying to break free.

Emily then scooped Zane up and spun her around before dropping her on the bed. "I am so going to make cause you pain for that." Emily said breathing hard.

"Watch it, sister, if you keep threatening me, I will unleash this morning breath on you so fast." Zane quipped.

"Do and die," Emily said playfully. She walked back to Zane and picked her up again. "Let me get you to the first of step of recovery, the bathroom!" Emily jeered. She spun Zane once more, and whisked her out into the hallway towards the bathroom.

"Now, you are not allowed to come out until you brush your pearly whites. You do have a dentist appointment today." She said, which prompted a groan from Zane. Emily pinched Zane's checks with both of her hands. "It will be fine," She assured her little sister, and smiled.

"Stop it." Zane said. Emily's hands on her checks muffled her response. She poked Emily's rib cage, which caused her to jump and release Zane's face.

"Okay enough of that, chop chop. Get to moving, so we could get grooving" Emily sang, and did a little shimmer dance.

Zane blinked, and started blankly at Emily. She seriously did not just do that. "Don't ever, I mean ever, do that again." Zane said slowly.

"Oh be quiet dork," Emily ordered, and pushed Zane into the bathroom and shut the door. On the other side of the door Emily reminded Zane to be conscious of time, and she went to her room to pick out her clothes for the day.

What went unnoticed by both Emily and Zane was, that their mother Pam stood on the other side of the hallway in her room peering. She watched their whole exchange with almost envy eyes. Yes, she's always known Emily and Zane have this monumental bond, but seeing it first hand was just..._wow_. It's the way they interact with each other, and fed off from one another, that is just unreal. Emily is so good with her, she knows all the right things to do, and say, which is what Pam lacks. It seems like whatever Pam says to Zane, or does with Zane, is completely wrong. And Zane just responds to Emily so naturally. All of her brightest smiles are because of her older sister. You can just tell by the way she looks at Emily that she trusts her so much. She trusts her enough to be herself around her; the goofy little kid. When she's with Emily she doesn't have to worry about anything, other than being that goofy kid. When Pam is with Zane, she's always trying to drill into her daughter's head about growing up and being a doctor just like her. Emily often argued against that, saying she was way too young to be given that type of pressure. Emily also knew that being a doctor wasn't even remotely interesting to Zane. Also when Zane was around Pam, she noticed Zane never was at ease. She always seemed timid, or almost scared that if she did something childish she would get punished. She never did the playful things that she did with Emily. Truthfully, it was because Zane fought so hard to get Pam's approval. In her mind, Pam is never around because Zane isn't what Pam wants her to be. She tries to be so grown up, and mature, that she often acts like someone she's not, something that Emily strongly dislikes.

"Okay, are you ready monkey?" Emily asked turning around in the front seat of Pam's Rage Rover. They decided to take one car, and Emily quickly agreed to riding in her mother's car, because well, any gas Emily can save in her car, the better.

Pam looked at Emily scornfully, before cutting her eyes back to the road. "You know Emily, I still don't understand you choose to call your sister that foolish nickname."

Zane scratched her head uncomfortably in the back seat, while Emily had a little bit more to say.

"Excuse me?" She asked. This is exactly the reason why she can't deal with her mother.

"I mean, there's nothing wrong with it I guess. It's just, why would you call something that? Doesn't it seem a bit tacky?" Pam wondered.

"I call her monkey for different reasons: One, because she has a birthmark that looks a lot like a monkey's paw. Two, because she's always jumping around like a little monkey. Three, because she's a bit obsessed with bananas. Four, because _she likes it_." Emily said starring daggers at Pam.

Pam still didn't buy it. "I don't think she enjoys you calling her a monkey Emily." She said glancing at her older daughter.

Emily didn't entertain her a response, she just looked out the window.

"I like when Emily calls me monkey. It makes me happy." A little voice said from the backseat.

"Okay sweetheart, if it makes you happy." Pam trailed off, clearly loosing this discussion.

"And I'm _her_ little monkey," She said smiling. "You forgot that part Em."

Emily turned around smiling, as nodding at Zane. "Yeah" she mouthed and winked at her.

They pulled up to the dentist office about ten minutes later. Emily and Pam got out of the car first and noticed Zane was still in the car, strapped in her seat belt.

Emily walked to other side of the car and opened Zane's door. "You know, you're going to have to face it sometime Zane."

"But what if-"

"No. No what ifs." She said confidently. "It's just the dentist, what can be the worst that can happen?"

"Anything." Zane murmured. "It's going to hurt," she said lowly.

"No it isn't. He's just going to check your teeth, and maybe give you a filling if you have a cavity. You never have those, so you should be fine."

Zane still wasn't convinced, she didn't move a muscle.

"I'm going to be right there with you. Seriously, would I let anything happen to you?" Emily asked protectively.

Zane slowly shook her head no, and unbuckled her seat belt. She couldn't argue with that, she knew as long as Emily was there, she would be fine.

Emily smiled. "Good girl," She encouraged, and gave her two pats on the back.

Pam and Emily positioned themselves on both sides of Zane and walked her into the office. Emily had her arm flung loosely over Zane's shoulders, a protective, yet soothing, action.

When they entered the building, Zane hung her head because there was no one waiting in the waiting room, and that scarred her even more. No people meant she would get serviced quicker.

Emily and Zane took a seat while Pam went to the desk to fill out the necessary forms.

Zane was a ball of nerves. She tried hiding her fear but Emily could tell she was terrified. She returned her arm around her Zane's shoulders, telling her it wall all be all right.

"Zane Fields," a feminine voice called out.

Zane immediately tensed in Emily's arm. She looked at Emily horrifyingly.

"Come on honey," Pam called. She was now standing next the doctor, who according to the stitch on her white coat was Doctor Ashley Marin. She was a medium height, slender women, with fiery red hair, which was pulled into a wavy ponytail.

Zane forced herself up, but before walking towards the doctor she turned to look at Emily, silently asking for encouragement. Zane expected Emily to stand up and come with her, but only received a shoulder squeeze, and a soft nudge.

She nervously bit the inside of her check and walked slowly towards the doctor and her mother.

"Why hello Zane, I'll be taking very good care of you." She said bending down to meet Zane's height. She then stood up and faced Pam again. "Mom follow us this way and-"

"Wait." Zane interrupted. "C-can my sister come...please?" She asked rigidly, she motioned for the doctor to see Emily, by titling her head towards her.

Emily was already beginning to get up as soon as she heard Zane's plea.

"Oh Zane, I'm pretty sure your sister doesn't want to be back there all bored." Ashley responded.

"It's actually okay with me." Emily said, perhaps a little more ruder than she intended.

Ashley looked from Pam, to Zane, to Emily, and back to Pam. Pam looked impatiently at Zane, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Ashley.

"Okay, sure, follow me." Ashley said looking at Pam making sure it was okay.

She led them to down a hall full of rooms and finally gestured for them to go into room 7. She explained the whole routine to them, and exited the room. The technician came in and said she had to take Zane to a different room to do her X-rays. After a few comforting words from both Pam and Emily she finally agreed to go.

After her X-rays were finished Zane returned, and they waited for the doctor to come back with the results. Zane tapped her foot nervously on the floor in anticipation.

"Let's take a look at these X-rays," Ashley said entering the room. She took the sheets out of a manila folder, and stuck them on the viewing board.

Everyone's attention turned to the X-rays on the board. Everything looked pretty good from Pam's perspective, but despite her medical background, she doesn't know much about teeth.

"My teeth are very long, they kind of look like feet Em." Zane joked trying to lighten her mood.

Emily took another glance at the sheets on the board and began laughing. The front and bottom teeth really did look like toes on a foot. "Wow, they do. Hey maybe that's a sign that you really are a monkey after all." Emily jabbed.

"I know right?" Zane laughed.

Pam joined in on the banter after seeing how much both of her girls were laughing. It felt nice to for once, be apart of a laugh amongst Emily and Zane. Ashley even joined in.

"Everything looks pretty good here Zane, except for one tiny thing. You have one cavity in your upper region, on the right." Ashley said circling a white spot on the X-ray sheet.

"So what does that mean?" Zane asked, not really knowing what a cavity was.

"Well," Ashley said pulling up a chair next to Zane. "It means that your tooth has just a tiny part that is bad, and I need to put a filling in it to make it all better." Ashley said trying her best to explain.

"W-will it hurt?" Zane stiffened. Zane may not know much about what Ashley was telling her, but she knew anything that needed "fixing" wouldn't be a walk in the park.

"Normally, but we have special medicine to make sure we take the pain away. How does that sound? Not too bad right?" Ashley asked.

"I guess," Zane answered dully. She knew this was not going to turn out well.

"So, mom." Ashley said, turning to Pam. "It's your call. Do you want to do the fillings today?"

"Yes, if possible, we might as well get it over with." Pam said looking at Ashley, then to Zane for confirmation.

"Clear or silver caps?" Ashley asked.

"White, definitely white." Pam answered. She wanted the fillings to be as unnoticeable as possible.

"Okay, let me go get a assistant, and we will get started." Ashley said.

Once Ashley was gone Pam took Zane's hand. "You're eating too much candy sweetheart."

"Is that why I have cavities?" She asked timidly.

"Yes." Pam, and Emily answered in unison.

Zane sighed.

"But don't worry monkey, you'll be fine." Emily said.

Ashley and her assistant entered the room bearing utensils. Ashley's assistant introduced himself as Holden Strauss, and gave Emily a not too shabby smile. Emily politely smiled back, and couldn't help but wonder how old he was; he looked _very_ young.

They hoisted Zane up in the chair and propped her back. Ashley instructed Zane to open her mouth wide, and put a q-tip with what appeared to be some type of yellow gel in her mouth. Ashley explained that it sped up the numbing process. She let the q-tip linger in Zane's mouth for about two minutes and removed it. She turned and gathered the needle she was going to use to numb Zane's mouth.

"Wait, no. You're going to give me a shot?" Zane cried. She did not sign up for shots.

"Zane, it will be very quick, you won't even feel it." Ashley said. "Okay, here we go." She said and pulled Zane's upper lip up exposing her gun. After she got a clear view, she slowly delivered the needle, and stuck it in Zane's mouth.

Zane closed her eyes at the sharp pain, and tensed her body. She squirmed and roughly tried to move her head. Luckily Holden lightly grabbed her head, and kept it in place.

"Zane." Ashley began. "I'm going to need to be still for me okay?"

"Em, it hurts." Zane cried. She kept her eyes closed, soaking in the pain.

Emily reached forward and grabbed her sister's hand. "It's going to be okay, I promise," She said shakily. She really hated when Zane was in any type of pain. It may sound cliché, but when Zane was hurt, so was Emily.

The procedure went on, and every few minutes Zane would continue moving and wheezing. Just as they were almost finished Zane began crying. Emily was now standing next to the Holden boy, holding both of Zane's hands in hers. Well, it was more like Zane was crushing every bone in Emily's hand, but it that eased her pain, then so be it.

After successfully installing the filling, Zane was finally done. Holden used the saliva ejector to remove the remaining spit, which was a lot. Zane was drooling like some kind of Tom Drooley.

"And that's it Zane, you are done." Ashley said cutting off the light on the top of the dentist chair, and lifting Zane back up.

"You did great honey," Pam said "Does she get mouth wash?"

"Yes, Holden can you please get her a cup of mouth wash?"' Ashley asked politely.

"Yes doctor, I'll be right back with that." He said.

Zane whipped the remaining tears from her eyes and held the right side of her mouth. Her face felt huge, she felt like she just got into a fight or something. She didn't have much pain due to the numb shot the doctor gave her, but she still felt a small fraction of discomfort.

Holden returned with the mouthwash and ushered Zane to the sink in one of the other rooms in the hallway. Once they returned, he told them they were free to go, once Pam gave them the insurance information. Holden led them all to the front desk and there they finished the remainder of the paper work.

"You drooled so much," Emily said bumping Zane. "I don't think I've ever seen that much drool." Emily joked. "It was gross."

Zane glared at Emily. "Sh-ut up." She whimpered.

"And that would be it you guys." Holden announced.

He received a thank you from both of the older Fields, and Zane stepped out from behind Emily and mumbled something that sounded like "Thank you".

"No problem you guys, have a good day. Oh, and feel better little one," he said nicely, and patted Zane on the shoulder.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Pam asked sadly.

"Ho-rri-ble," Zane said slowly. She couldn't control half of her face, which made talking kind of hard. She could only mumble her words. "I just w-ant to sl-ee-p,."

"Oh honey I'm sorry. Let's get you home." She said and began walking.

"Wa-it. Can you p-ick me up," Zane asked. This whole trip to the dentist really drained a lot out of her, and whatever was in that shot the dentist gave her left her feeling a bit tired.

Pam took a deep breath. It's been a very long time since Pam has picked Zane up. She figured since the car wasn't that far she should be okay. Plus Zane really was not that heavy for a twelve year old. She granted Zane's wish after seeing her close her eyes after blinking; she looked like she was going to pass out. She picked Zane up, and smiled thankfully at Emily for opening the door for them. Pam carried Zane to the car and again smiled at Emily for opening the door for them. She carefully let Zane into the car and fastened her seatbelt.

"Hey Em, do you want to maybe sit back their with your sister?" Pam proposed.

Emily was planning on doing that already, but she reckoned she didn't need to tell her mother that. "Yeah, I will," She answered and climbed into the back seat.

"Is my fa-ce f-at?" Zane asked in a loopy state.

Emily pretended to be very shocked. "My goodness, yes. Your face is huge monkey."

Zane groaned and used her left hand to cover the left side of her face; the side she could actually control. "Oh no."

Emily let out a throaty laugh. "I'm just kidding. You just have a little bit of swelling, I'm sure it will be gone by tomorrow morning."

"Really?"

"Really, just trust me, you will be fine. Now just go to sleep, you will feel even better." Emily said, pulling Zane into her side so she could be used as a pillow.

Zane quickly fell asleep, and stayed sleep the whole ride home. Like earlier Pam carried her from the car, and took her upstairs. Emily stayed outside gathering her mother's purse from the car. Pam kissed Zane on the check, and let her rest.

"Is she out for the count?" Emily asked Pam, who was walking down the stairs.

"I believe so, she's pretty beat."

"I'm just glad that it's over," Emily sighed. "She was freaking out." Emily said quietly. Usually when Zane goes to the dentist she always psyches herself out, but this time actually cried. Maybe because this was her first time getting something other than a cleaning.

"I know, poor baby." Pam agreed. Before she even thought about it, the words were already out of her mouth.

"It helped that you were there...You really made a difference, if you weren't there, who knows what would have happened. You're... good with her." She said truthfully.

Emily looked at her mother, unsure of what prompted her admission.

"Thank you." Emily said staggered, and got up to walk up the stairs. Before she did, she turned to Pam. "She's an easy kid to be around, she's easy to get attached to, and anybody would be lucky to have her, and I'm thankful that I do." She said, walking up the stairs.

Before going to her room, of course Emily had to check up on Zane. To her surprise when she walked into Zane's room, she was awake.

"Hey, I thought you were in dreamland."

"I was wait-ing on you to tu-ck me in, I kn-ew you we-re co-ming." Zane said yawning.

"Silly, don't strain yourself waiting for me." Emily said fluffing a pillow.

Zane just smiled that same loopy smile from earlier and shrugged bashfully.

"Now, go to sleep. You'll be up in a few hours. Listen, so how about we go for some ice cream when you get up?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Mmmm." Zane mumbled happily. "That wo-uld be awe-some. You alw-ays know h-ow to ma-ke me f-eel b-etter." Zane said while resting her right arm over her head, nuzzling her face on the crease in her forearm.

That made Emily think back to what Pam said moments ago. _"Your so good with her."_

"Well, of course I do." Emily said sweetly. Zane tried to say something in response but Emily shushed her. "You're sleep talking now. Have a good nap monkey." Emily said and by time she finished adjusting the sheets, Zane was ready out.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Finally an update! Thanks to the rather _passionate_ messages that made sure I kept writing. Now on to the update, hope you enjoy. The story picks up into gear from here on. Those who've seen the movie should have an idea!

_A few weeks later, 7/29_

"Oh man, I'm so scared Em." Zane tells Emily.

They are competing at the Regionals Race Swimming Competition. Emily and Zane are the last two swimmers up, Zane goes next, and Emily goes last. The decision to make Emily the last swimmer was pretty easy, but having Zane the swimmer before last did not sit well with a few team members. Apparently having a 12-year-old close out the race was not rational, but no one could argue with Zane's speed. She beat Emily in a race one time, but of course Emily will deny that to no ends.

The person in Zane's lane approached the wall and they were on their way back to tag Zane in. "I'm not fast enough," she turned to Emily, fear evident in her face.

"You're gonna have to be monkey!" Emily yelled over the cheering crowd, and all but pushed Zane in the water when she hesitated after her teammate hit the wall. Emily frustratingly closed her eyes. Zane was a good 5 seconds behind the competition. Emily kept her eyes closed focusing on trying to overcome the odds that may present themselves when she has to hit the water. She heard the screaming from the crowd and her teammates increase, and opened her eyes and saw her sister racing through the water like a shark. Zane passed up her first two opponents and passed up the third as she flipped in the water to turn the opposite direction. Emily screamed and began tapping her foot anxiously. Zane was quickly on the trail of the last opponent and was just inches behind. Zane pumped her legs as fast as she could and mustered all of her might to pass the last person she was racing against and hit the wall before her opponent and Emily promptly shot into the water. She feverishly kicked her legs and swung her arms. She felt right at home in the water. She swam freely, and she was confident that she could win this one. She had a nice led on the rest of the girls during the first half, but during the second half the swimmer on her right was right on her trail. She pushed to the edge and reached the wall first!

She lifted her head out of the water and quickly snatched her swimming cap and goggles off. Before she even fully lifted herself out of the water she felt bodies smack into her. Her teammates pulled her out of the water and eloped her into a hug. They all said a series of things such as _congratulations_ and _we did it_ to each other. After they let her go, she quickly searched for the person she wanted most: Zane. She looked over her shoulder and saw Zane engaging in a hug with their Coach, Coach Hastings. Veronica couldn't be more proud of her young star.

"Zaneyyyyy," Spencer sang as she hoisted the younger girl in the air, and spun her around.

Zane closed her eyes because she hated being spun. Or she just didn't want _Spencer_ harassing her. "Ahh. Put me down Hastings." she hissed, trying to squirm out of the embrace.

Spencer obliged, and planted her back on the ground. "Who knew you had it in you kid." she smiled. Spencer, just as all of Emily's other friends, loved hanging out with Zane. For an 11 year old, she could hang with the big kids and not be too much of a pest. Plus Spencer loved her drive, and will to win. Truthfully, she sees a lot of herself in Zane, personality wise.

"Are you saying you had doubts?" Zane gasped.

"Umm," Spencer said slowly. Spencer enjoyed getting the younger Fields riled up at any means. Zane was a feisty little one, and Spencer loved it.

Zane cuts her eyes, "I'm watching you Hastings," she cautioned.

Spencer just rolled her eyes, and looked up and saw Emily standing a few feet away, staring at them. "Turn around kid," she said, grabbing Zane's shoulders.

Emily saw Spencer turn Zane around and point towards her, Zane then broke out into a run and quickly ran to Emily. Emily bent down on one knee and held her arms out. Zane crashed into her arms, and Emily squeezed her tightly.

"What have I told you about running by the pool?" she chastised. No matter how many times she told Zane she can fall from the result of that, she just refuses to listen. But since they just won regionals, she supposes she can let it slide.

Zane chuckled and hugged Emily tighter. "Well, I thought we established I don't follow rules." she whispered back.

"I am so proud of you, I mean it monkey, you were amazing and fearless once you got in the water."

"Thanks Em, you were absolutely incredible out there too dude, I couldn't believe that was my sister doing all of that," she gushed.

Everyone in the crowd looked on and couldn't help but smile at the exchange occurring in the middle of the building between the captain of the team, and the youngest member who no doubt had the most heart.

Pam finally reached her two girls and hugged them both and told them how proud she is of both of them. She told Emily how much of a beautiful and determined young lady she was turning into, and instead of brushing it off, she accepted it and realized she was honestly glad her mother was there… for once.

Spencer then came running and threw herself onto Emily tightly.

Emily gasped, "Oh, Spence I'm getting you all wet aren't I?" she asked apologetically.

Spencer smirked, "Em, wanky," She joked, causing Emily to blush immediately.

"Oh my-" she began, hiding her face slightly.

"Totally kidding Em. Anyway, you did so good I am so proud of you!" she yelled. "All of your hard work is finally paying off." She gushed, gazing at Emily admiringly. She up and downed Emily's figure, for a few moments, until she landed back on her eyes.

"Thanks Spence." Emily said suddenly, blushing again. Emily felt like she was under examination by Spencer's intense gaze. Sure Spencer may have dropped a few hints every now and then, but something about _this_ was different. She was so trapped in Spencer's intense gaze; she didn't notice Mona approaching them.

"Emily, here are your warm up sweets, sweater, and flip-flops," Mona, the teams water girl said. "Also, congrats on the win, way to bring it home for the team." she added, handing Emily all of her Sharks gear.

Mona tried out for the Sharks team, but in the end didn't make it. Zane felt extremely bad for her, and suggested she be the water girl. That way she still is apart of the team. Zane sweet-talked Coach Hastings into letting Mona be the water girl, and ever since then, her and Zane have been pretty close. Emily knew Mona would always keep an additional eye on Zane, and for that, she was grateful.

"Thank you so much Mona really, for _everything_ this year. I really appreciate they way you have looked out for Zane," she says.

"It's no problem, really. She is quite the kid," she giggled.

As Mona began walking away Emily called her name again. "Does Zane have her sweats and stuff?" she asked.

Mona smiled and nodded. "Yes, I just gave them to her before I came over here and gave you yours. And yes before you ask, she did put them on, I made her put them on as soon as I gave them to her." she says.

Okay, Zane has this little bad habit where she likes to ignore wearing her warm up sweats and shoes after a meet, or after practice. The entire team has to stay on her behind about it, because everyone knows leaving practice in _just a bathing suit_ will result in being sick.

"Okay, just checking, thanks." she says to Mona. Mona just smiled, and walked away.

"You're always just checking Em." Spencer says. Emily sat down on the bottom bleacher and put on her clothes.

"If I don't check, who will?" she asked, putting one leg through the sweat pants.

"I mean, yeah Mona cares a lot about Zane but you know she can't watch her every move, and my mom is not really into the deep specifics on the team. And well, quite frankly, Zane would end up telling Mona she doesn't have to put on her warm ups after a swim meet because they make her butt itch, or she's allergic to the fabric, or something else that's stupid. And you know how Mona is, she'll buy it too" she added and put the other leg into the sweats.

Spencer laughed and nodded her head in agreement. "Totally, that sounds like Zane." Before Spencer can continue, her mom interrupts and tells her that the Editor from The Huffington Post wants to take the team's picture.

They all go meet the rest of the team in front of the pool. Emily wiggles her eyes at Zane, "This is huge!" she whispered. Zane nodded her head excitedly in response. The team posed for a series of pictures and thanked the Photographer when they were finished.

Everyone began clearing out and getting their bags, then the photographer came up to Zane and Emily, and asked if they would pose for an individual feature. Of course they both generously accepted because _Hell Yeah_, the Huffington Post! You don't say no to the Huffington Post, they like rule the newspaper world, and that would bring so much exposure to not only them, but also the team, and the city of Rosewood!

Emily licked her finger and slicked down some of Zane's stray hairs. "Hey stop it, that's gross." Zane said as she smacked Emily's hand away.

In response, Emily softly smacked Zane in the lower region of her face, by her neck. "It's for the newspaper," Emily pressed. "We have to make sure you look good."

"Psh. I always look good," Zane argued. "Come on, put on the sexy face!" she hissed at Emily. The photographer began to count to three, and they laughed, turned towards the camera, and smiled vibrantly.

"Thank you so much, Ms. and Ms. Fields," The photographer says.

"No thank you mam, it's an honor." Emily said, as they both shook the photographers hand.

After their individual shoot with the photographer, it was time for the award ceremony. The league's president Darren Wilden took the microphone to crown the winners.

"Ladies and gentlemen the National Swimming Club would first and foremost like to thank everyone who came and supported all the teams. Your attendance means more to this organization than you know. Hopefully many of you keep supporting these girls as they continue on in their swimming endeavors, and follow their paths to become Olympic hopefuls."

"Next, we would like to congratulate all the teams on making it this far in the completion, and beating out other teams in the country. We want to extend our utmost on congratulations to the Utah Gators Club for coming in 2nd place," he said as the crowd applauded the team.

"And now," he began but was cut off by the crowd roaring in applause as they knew it was time to crown the Rosewood Sharks. The team waved and smiled at the crown in appreciation.

"Now," he smiled and continued. "It's time to crown our winner. Ladies and gentlemen I give you, your Rosewood Sharks, the Regional Champions," he yelled, as the crowed yelled in praise. Wilden presented the five girls with a gold medal and announced their name.

"Kate Randall." he said and placed her medal around her neck. "Congratulations" he said above the crowd's cheering.

"Jenna Marshall." he placed Jenna's medal around her neck and said congratulations. Jenna threw a smile to the crowed and waved.

" Alison DiLaurentis. "Congratulations," he smiled and put her medal around her neck. Alison waved at the crowd and bowed as they cheered. She caught a glimpse of her older brother Jason cheering wildly and formed her hands into a heart for him.

"Zane Fields," he said and put Zane's medal around her neck. "Congrats little one" Wilden said, and held up his hand up for a high five. Zane had to jump slightly to smack his hand, which made the crowd, and everyone else laugh. The crowd went wild for the youngest member on the team, and gave her a well-deserved standing ovation, which caught the 11 year old by surprise. She gave a shy smile and held her gold medal up in the air.

The crowd stayed on its feet for Emily's crowning and cheered enthusiastically for the team caption.

"And lastly Emily Fields, your team caption." said Wilden as he put the medal around Emily's neck. "Congratulations young lady. You are going to do great things one day."

Emily smiled. "Thank to you sir"

"Ladies and gentlemen we would also like to crown Ms. Emily Fields as this years Regionals MVP" said Wilden proudly.

Emily's eyes widened in shock as the team all gave her a hug. Ever since she was a little girl Emily has always dreamed of winning Regionals. She always used to talk her father's off about winning a regional title. This was more than she ever dreamed off. Wilden handed her the shiny gold trophy, and congratulated her once more.

"Wow. Umm. This is amazing. I have always dreamed of this moment, but I guess it's so surreal because I never thought it would actually come. This award is for the whole team. I mean we put so much effort and hard working into this group day in and day out. I love these girls standing up here, and without them we wouldn't be here. We all went through a lot this past year, and it definitely brought us closer together."

"You know, when I was chose captain, I was a little intimidated because it is such an important job. I feel like a captain should be someone who can lead by example someone who knows this team inside and out."

"With that being said I don't think I'm the right recipient of this award. So, if it's okay I'd like to give this award to my little sister Zane Fields." Emily says proudly.

"She really does deserve this award. She is the heart of this team, and she always provides that extra spark we need. For those who don't know Zane is just 12 years old, and to me it is extremely rare to see someone so young competing at such a high level on a consistent bases. All year long she has been doing the same rigorous workouts as the rest of us, and she withstood all types of constructive criticism from the team. No matter what people think or say she has earned the right to be on the team. Just like we did, she has given up quite a lot to be here but she constantly said this was what she wanted to do. Today she shined like rock star. Since she's my little sister and I get so see what everyone else doesn't. I get to see the doubts, fears, everything. All this morning before the meet started she was just a ball of nerves. This was the biggest competition of her life thus far and she was terrified that she was going to blow it. I did everything possible to try and reassure her but the nerves still got to her. It was now up to her to rise to the occasion on this stage and compete at a high level. In the beginning she started out slow but in the end she prevailed and put us in a great position to win, and she put me into a great position to try and close it out. I couldn't be more proud of this kid. I couldn't be more proud of my sister who is rightfully the Regional MVP. So Zane." She said and nodded her head in confirmation for Zane to step up to the podium. Emily sat the award down and hugged her sister. The crowed erupted in "awes" at Emily's speech.

Zane couldn't be more shocked. Emily wanted this more than the world and now she's just giving it away? "Emily are you sure about this, this is like your dream dude." Zane said trying to get her point across.

Emily smiled and shook her head. " I know, and I wouldn't want to have it played out any other way." she said with confidence.

She handed Zane the trophy and announced her name one final time to the crowd. Zane hoisted the trophy in the air with both arms, which caused her to nearly tumble over, which prompted all five girls on the team to rush over and steady her.

"Thanks I love you guys," she said while laughing.

The crowed urged Zane for a speech, which she really didn't want to do because she hasn't really ever been required to speak in front of a huge audience like this.

"This is really awesome and it kind of feels like I'm dreaming, so I'd like it if no one pinched me," was all Zane said on the stage.

She's probably never smiled so much at one time, but she can't help it. She blew a kiss at the vibrant crowd and nudged Emily's arm to signal her to pick up the huge trophy for her since it was way too heavy.

About an hour later after all the excitement Zane headed to the car and Emily stuck around for a few to finish talking to Spencer. "I'll be right there Zane, _do not_ start my car, you hear, " she yells.

"No promises" she heard Zane yell from outside.

"So Em, Melissa's throwing a party, and we can totally turn it into a celebration for the win. Your attendance is required." she squealed.

"Is Aria going?" she asked.

"Yes she is. She actually here today, but she had to leave early. She said something about taking Mike to Philly because he is acting out."

"Oh yeah, she told me about that last week, poor Mike."

Spencer nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I hope he gets better." She took a deep breath, and changed the topic of their conversation. "So, are you coming tonight Em?" She asked eagerly.

"I'll be there." she grinned. "What time?"

"The real fun starts at 12," Spencer purred.

Emily gathered her two duffel bags, and slung them over her shoulders. "Sounds good, I better go before that kid flips my car over," she jested.

"Bye Em." Spencer waves bye at Emily.

"See you later on Spence"

"And where do you think you're going?" Pam asked as she saw Emily all dressed up as if she was going out.

Emily grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, and headed towards the door hoping her mother wouldn't object.

"To Spencer's party. It's a celebration for the big win," she said over her shoulder.

"No you don't. You're on Zane duty. I have a double shift tonight which includes a surgery." Pam told Emily.

"What," she groaned. "Oh come on mom, can't I just go out this one time, please? My team just won a regional competition for crying out loud," she pleads.

Pam shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sorry honey, but I need to work," she said apologetically as she kissed Emily's forehead on the way out.

Emily glanced at the clock; it was just past 10:30. Zane already ate, took her bath, and now she's upstairs watching TV. She figured in thirty minutes she would go upstairs and tuck her in, then Zane should be out for the count, and she could just quietly slip out the back.

Emily killed time by video chatting with Aria on her laptop.

"So, how are you going to sneak out?" Aria asked. She knew getting away from Zane would not be such an easy task as Emily thought.

Emily snickered and gave a nonchalant shrug. "I'm just going to walk out the door Aria," she said blankly. Its not like Emily is a prisoner, _sheesh_.

Aria gave Emily the _yeah-right_ look. "So you think Zane, your little sister, mind you, the same girl who in a way, can out smart Spencer Hastings, is just going to roll over and play sleep so you could go party?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "Don't be dramatic and she didn't out smart Spencer." Emily clarified.

"She totally can," Aria attested. "You've got to hand it to her Em, she can hand Spencer's ass to her on a plate."

Emily laughed lightly at Aria's choose of words and finally shook her head. "She really can." Emily agreed.

"I mean, who is that little girl? She slays Spencer, competes on a regional swim team, she scores MVP, even though you gave it to her, what can't Zane do? Em, your sister is totally like heaven sent or something," Aria fawned.

"Well when you put it like that..." Emily checked her cell phone and noticed it was almost eleven thirty. "Well, I'm gonna go put the _little angel"_ air quotes in her voice evident, "to sleep. So, I'll see you in a bit?"

"Yeah, of course," Aria said nodding. "Hey Em, tell Zane I said stay creative."

"Hmm. I don't think I will, miss, I-decided-to-teach-Zane-how-to-curse." Emily said arching one of her eyebrows at Aria.

"No, I didn't teach her how to curse okay...I just told her, not to do it around you that's all." Aria said innocently.

"Mmhm, whatever you say. I'll see you in a bit though."

"Byeeee." Aria said dragging it out, and blowing Emily a quick kiss.

Emily gave a quick wave and clicked 'end chat'. She threw on a pair of sweats and a hoodie before walking into Zane's room. She certainly did not want to run into any complications while trying to sneak out.

Zane was laid out on her bedroom floor, watching reruns of the Fairly Odd Parents when Emily walked in. It was playing that one episode with that one pop star, what was his name? Chip Skylark? Didn't he sing that one song about teeth or something?

_My shiny teeth and me. _

Not that Emily knew that of course, it's not like she secretly watches that episode like every weekend because she loves that one. Whatever.

"Alright little one up you go, it's bed time." Emily said, gesturing her head to Zane's bed.

Zane silently got up, cut her TV off, pulled the sheets back, and got into her bed.

Zane looked at Emily, and quickly grew irritated from the shocked look she received from her big sister. After a few moments she finally caved. "What?" She finally asked.

"No objections? No please let me watch TV for 10 more minutes? None of that tonight?" Emily asked skeptically. Whenever it was time for Zane to go to bed, a fight always ensued. Literally.

"Oh. No." Zane said shortly. She put on her best innocent facade as Emily walked over a tucked her into the covers.

"Hopefully I don't have any nightmares tonight," Zane mumbled, hiding her smirk brilliantly. If Emily wanted to play this game, Zane was going to play it right back.

"Uhh," Emily mumbled quietly.

Emily obviously didn't think of that one. She got a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if Zane did have a nightmare tonight? She would be here all alone scared, she would realize Emily left, and would probably call Pam or something. Getting in trouble wasn't the worst of Emily's worries though. She worried that Zane would be in their dark house with no one, crying from a nightmare. Is this party really worth it? _Is it worth leaving your monkey at home all alone and possibly suffering from a nightmare?_ Emily thought to herself.

"But if I do have one, you'll be here…right?" Zane asked while looking at Emily smiling, that signature smile. That exact smile that lets Emily know that Zane trust her so much.

"Y-yeah. You know it." Emily said weakly. She hoped she didn't look as guilty on the outside as she felt on the inside.

"And you'll sing like always right?"

Emily bit her lip and nodded her head in response. "But you know what though Zane, you might not even have a nightmare tonight. You probably won't even need me." Emily said trying to sound confident.

Zane shrugged her shoulders. "I always need you...but hopefully." she agreed.

Emily leaned down and kissed Zane's forehead. Once she leaned back up she studied her, still deliberating if the party was worth going to. "_Just stay home Emily. It's not worth leaving her here all alone, even though you know she will be safe_.

_Pam keeps nothing but the best alarm systems in the house, but that's not the point! The point is, Zane might need you idiot, and you will be worried all night about her if you go to the party._ Emily thought to herself.

_You never go out, literally NEVER. You can't even name a party you've been to senior year. You deserve this, your team got a massive victory, and you should go celebrate! This one night won't kill you, and after tonight you can go back to the regular routine where you miss out on parties because you have to Zane-sit. Go on; have fun Emily,_ she thought to herself.

And with that, she decided tonight she would be a little selfish, and have fun. She was entitled to it.

"Goodnight monkey, sleep tight." Emily said and walked out of Zane's room.

"Night Em." Zane said disappointedly, and snatched the sheets off as soon as she heard Emily go back into her room. Zane can't believe Emily; she thought she would come clean with the whole "nightmare" set up.

Apparently not.

Zane quickly changed her clothes and decided she would surprise her dear big sister outside.

Emily quietly tiptoed down the hall and down the stairs. She gently grabbed her keys from their red heart shaped key bowl, and unlocked the back door as quietly as she could, and then closed and locked it. She smirked to herself and walked to her car and got in. She breathed a huge sigh of relief, once she felt safe in her car.

She looked up at Zane's bedroom window and felt a bit bad. Zane's whole plea about having nightmares _really_ made Emily feel like a jerk. She only could hope that tonight would be one of those peaceful nightmare-less nights for her little sister.

She cut the engine on, and her lights revealed a very awake Zane standing in front of the hood. Emily jumped in her seat and rested her head on the steering wheel.

What the... How is this even happening right now? Emily hit her head against the steering wheel a few times, and just laughed humorlessly. Of course Zane knew what she was up to, she always knows.

"Jesus Zane, you scared the hell out of me. She rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "What are you doing?" she demanded furiously.

"What are you doing?" Zane fired back, matching Emily's intensity. "You're on Zane duty," she adds.

Emily put her head in her palms. "When an I NOT on Zane duty?" she mumbled to herself. She lifted her head back up, and regarded Zane. Don't get Emily wrong, she _enjoys_ looking after Zane but shouldn't she be able to go out at least once every blue moon?

"No one baby sat me when I was 11 Zane," Emily reminded her.

"I'm twelve you bimbo, and I don 't want to go to the same place as you. I just need you to drop me off at Hailey's. We are going to watch the swimming nationals that are going on overseas," she said.

Emily completely ignored the reason why Zane was outside, she just ordered her to go back in the house. "Zane, go back upstairs I'm not taking you to Hailey's house." Emily said sternly. "And I know how old you are," she said in an offended tone.

Zane cocked her head to the side, and sighed. "I really hate to resort to these measures." she said and pulled out her cell phone. "I wonder what mom has to say about this?"

Emily bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. She sometimes forgets the lengths Zane will go to in order to get what she wants. Emily still won't bow out nicely. If Zane wants to get their mom involved, then that's fine.

"Okay, if that's how you want to play it. Go ahead, and call mom, I'll just tell her about your latest habit." Emily said lifting her eyebrows, issuing the silent challenge.

Zane knew exactly what Emily was talking about and there was no way she wanted their mom finding out she uses profanity. Pam would no doubtingly take away everything Zane loves: TV, Laptop, iPod, and most importantly the pool!

Zane's teeth captured her bottom lip as she looked perplexedly at Emily. She knew Emily now held the upper hand, and the potential consequences for her would be terrible. She glanced around until her eyes landed on Emily's shiny black car. An idea popped into her mind.

"Nice ride" she uttered, in a desperate attempt to persuade Emily.

Seconds went by as they were locked in a heated gaze. Emily shook her head and sighed. "Get in the car Zane."

Zane smiled and skipped to the passenger side of Emily's black 2 door Lexus 1S 350. She knew complementing Emily on her car would work in her favor. Emily loves that thing so much, one time Zane accidentally bumped it with her bike handlebars, and Emily nearly bit her head off. The bike didn't even leave a dent or a scratch, and Emily still lectured her on _respect,_ and how important it was to be very careful, around her car.

"I can't believe you ditched me for a stupid party." Zane said coldly, she was obviously hurt. She looked at Emily, and just shook her head.

"I didn't ditch you." Emily said ashamed. She cast her face downwards as if she was being scolded by an adult, because truth is, she was feeling bad. She often lectures to Zane about how all they had was each other, and how they would never leave each other and look what happens. Zane catches her red handed trying to go to a stupid party. In an ordinary life, Emily sneaking out wouldn't be a big deal, but in _their_ life, actions like this just weren't acceptable, they had so much at stake. Emily and Zane weren't ordinary sisters. They were each other's everything.

"And besides," Emily began moments later, "You're here aren't you?" She said, stating the fact that they were together after all. "It seems like it always happens that way. We always find a way to each other." She said distantly.

"Still... it doesn't matter. The point is you _tried_ to ditch me." She said. "If it wasn't for my special talents, I wouldn't have heard you talking with Aria."

"Special talents?" Emily asked mockingly.

"Fine. Whatever. So it wasn't my special talents after all, it just so happens that you talk a little loud of video chat." She admitted sheepishly.

Emily just mumbled an inaudible response and managed a laugh.

"By the way, tell Aria that I will stay creative, just for her." Zane said smugly.

Emily fixed her eyes on Zane, and narrowed them in an irritated fashion. Sometimes, her little intelligence can really just...be really _annoying_. She continued to stare until a silver object caught her peripheral vision. She recognized it as Zane's practice goggles, which only spurred her anger on. Zane treats Emily' car like a giant trashcan, the same way she treats her room.

"You know you really need to get your swim stuff out of my car. It stinks chlorine in here," she said sharply as she began looking for additional swim items. She saw Zane's duffle bag laying in the back seat. She made a mental note to get a few car smell goods, to alleviate the smell. "My car isn't a storage you know."

Zane rolled her eyes, "Hailey lives a few blocks down to_" Zane said tuning out Emily's annoying rankings about her _stupid car_.

"I know where she lives!" Emily all but yelled, cutting her off.

"Hey you don't have to be such a _butt_," Zane said. Emily didn't respond she just looked at Zane and proceeded reverse out of their driveway.

"But seriously, it is a nice ride." Zane admitted with a smirk, which received a long scowl from Emily as they drove through the dark streets of Rosewood.

Hailey didn't live too far from the Fields, but getting to her house required crossing the prestigious Rosewood beam bridge. Everyone in town loved the bridge because it was a chill space to hang out with friends, or if you were adventurous like Emily and Zane, take a swim. The lake supposedly was very deep, and slightly dangerous to swim in.

Emily was breezing down the streets of Rosewood, trying to rush so she could drop Zane off, and head of to Spencer's. She was in a state of anticipation because she didn't know what was Spencer's deal as of late. She already spent majority of the night thinking about their little run around dance they've been doing lately.

"So here's my number, so call me maybe!" Zane sang to the top of her lungs, interrupting Emily's thought process. One thing about Zane, she could get really into singing, another thing the two Field's shared. But Zane simply preferred to yell at the top of her lungs, rather than sing.

"Oh snap, here we go, the bridge. Boy you came into my life, I miss you so bad, I Miss-"

Emily cut Zane off by cutting the radio off completely. "Would you please shut up?" Emily sighed.

Zane immediately frowned. "Hey why did you cut the song off?"

"Because it's annoying, and I think you are permanently destroying my ear drums," Emily whined.

"Well I you're annoying too, but you don't see me going around cutting you off " Zane snapped and looked out the window. She wasn't even sure if her little insult made sense, but she didn't care.

Emily snickered at Zane's burst of anger.

"Aw, are you mad Zane? Emily asked in a baby like voice.

Zane starred straight ahead.

"Zaneeee. Zaneeee Babyy. Oh come on," she teased.

Emily used her left hand to steer and her right arm to hit her sister lightly on the arm. Again, and again, and again, until Zane put all of her might (which wasn't much to Emily) into a punch to Emily's side. Emily laughed and asked was that the strongest she could do. Zane then started using both arms to hit Emily. Emily continued laughing and playfully hit Zane a couple more times.

"Okay that's enough." Emily said, after it became a tad difficult to drive, but Zane ignored her and kept going. Emily continued to laugh, which made Zane keep hitting her.

"Alright stop." Emily said firmly. Again, Zane ignored the warning, and she accidently she nudged Emily's driving arm, which caused the car to slightly jerk.

"Watch it punk," Emily said, blocking Zane's arms. She was trying to focus on the road, but the twelve year olds arms were making it quite hard.

Zane hit Emily again and once she realized her tiny hits weren't affecting Emily, she bit her right on the arm, with all her might.

"Zane, _enough_!" she yelled seething in the burning ache. "I'm driving," she shouted.

This time Zane knew Emily wasn't messing around. The car ride was now quiet, and Emily started to feel like a jerk. She hardly ever raises her voice at Zane.

They approached a stop sign just before the bridge that lead to Hailey's house. Emily stopped and looked over at Zane who looked down. She nudged her arm, and offered a smile. Zane smiled and hit Emily back.

Emily pushed her foot down on the break pedal, as the car skidded to a stop. She turned her head both ways, and once she sensed it was clear she cut her wheels to the left, preparing to make a left turn.

Emily began to say something to Zane but was halted by a huge, crushing impact that sent both Field's jerking in their seats. A cement truck rammed them from behind, and sent Emily's car gliding into the middle of the intersection.

Zane gasped, and grabbed the back of her neck in reflex. Her panic stricken eyes looked frantically over at Emily who was appearing to be looking at her as well, but Emily's gazing was actually beyond Zane.

Emily knows it may sound cliché, but she felt as if time ceased for a moment, and then it began to move _painfully slow_. All she saw was lights. She saw giant headlights coming from behind Zane, and they were _coming_ fast. She lowered her gaze, meeting Zane's frantic face once again.

"Emily?" Zane asked worriedly after seeing Emily's eyes widen in horror.

She knew the truck was coming, any second now…

She knew they were trapped…

And she also knew that the truck would directly smack into Zane's side of the car.

With that image shooting through her body her entire being erupted into sheer terror. She saw Zane attempting to follow her line of vision, but she couldn't allow that to happen. She wouldn't be able to function if that would potentially be the last thing Zane would see before this bang.

Before she could even think, her body flung itself into Zane. For the life of her, she just _couldn't_ let Zane witness what was to come.

She knew her small car never stood a chance against the giant truck…

She knew her car was going to go over the bridge, into the lake

She knew this was going to be a bit painful…

But she _did not_ know just how much it was going to _hurt_.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: New chapter! Thank you guys for the nice comments and just reading the story. I've spent like two full days with no sleep writing for this story so if you see a few errors and you like whaaat, I'm sorry, haha. I wrote like four different versions of this 'chapter' but this is the one I like best, and I hope you guys enjoy it too. _

_The truck driver attempted to slow down, but it made no difference…the truck was coming too fast, too soon. The truck driver slammed on its horn repeatedly as if trying to warn them but he didn't understand they were trapped. _

"Em, what's going-"

_Boom _

_Flip_

_Flip_

_Flip_

_Over the bridge…_

_"It hurts so bad," Zane cried, closing her eyes tightly. Her entire body throbbed with unbearable pain. Her breathing was frantic, as she had to struggle for every breath. _

_Emily laid her head back up against a rock, and slowly leaned Zane's body back into her, producing a groan from the younger Fields. It was pitch black outside, and there were no bridge lights near. Emily couldn't see any of Zane's injuries, so she was hesitant to touch her. She couldn't see any of her own injuries either, all she had was the excruciating pain to go off of. _

_"It's so cold," Zane whimpered, nuzzling closer into Emily. _

_Emily leaned her head down, and tightened her arms, as she tried keeping them warm as they lay there. It wasn't much she could do because it was a very chilly night, and they both were on the verge of death. _

_"I know it is monkey, but it's okay I'm here." she said weakly. She tried to regulate her breathing but her entire body ached badly. Short breaths were the only things she could do. _

_"Mom is going to kill us," Zane said faintly. _

_Emily shakes her head and attempts a weak laugh, but here ribcages scream in violent protest. Her lungs feel like they've been crumbled like a sheet of paper. Her head is throbbing pugnaciously, and she knows they need help, immediately. _

_Of all the things that can be on Zane's mind, she's thinking about their consequences from their mother. Emily doesn't know why, but that notion kicks her in the gut, and her eyes prickle with tears._

_Guilt. _

_"No, I'm going to take all the blame, it's all on me." Emily mumbled._

_A moment of silence washed over them, before they heard voices, and despite her broken state, Emily saw flashing lights in the distance approaching. Zane would have seen them as well, but keeping her eyes open deemed to be too much of a battle._

_"What is that?" Zane wailed._

_Emily managed to narrow her eyes, searching for clarity. "They're looking for us." Emily said as she tried to lean her head forward to get a better view, but her body wouldn't respond. _

_"Who?" _

_"I don't know." Emily mumbled in Zane's ear._

_" It hurts so bad." Zane repeated. After every moment that passed, it became increasingly difficult for Zane to keep it together. The air got colder, the pain got worse, and the only relief in that moment was closing her eyes._

_Emily glanced down to see Zane's eyes closed. Immediately her heartbeat skyrocketed, and panic shot through her veins. She knew there would be only one outcome if Zane closed her eyes for too long._

_"Zane," She hissed, "You have to get up," she added, whilst giving her body a soft, but purposeful shake._

_Zane fought against the darkness and unconsciousness that threatened to consume her, but it was becoming too much for the twelve year old to handle. She knew she needed to stay where she was, but giving in just felt too good. The pain lessened, just a bit, when she closed her eyes. She knew she had to try though. Emily would do the same for her. Despite all of that she felt herself giving in and looked up at Emily, just in case._

_"Don't ever leave me Emily, please don't ever leave me! Promise me you won't leave me." Zane begged. She had no idea what was going to happen once that feeling took over her, she just figured her sister would be there, by her side, as always._

_Emily tightened her grip on her sister and closed her eyes also. It turns out, that same feeling Zane was feeling Emily felt it too. When all was said and done, when the end was near, the only things on the two Fields' mind were each other. The only thought processing was: Fight for each other. Their immense love for each other was perhaps, their only reason for holding on as long as they did._

_"Promise me Emily." Zane insisted, this time slightly weaker than before. "Don't ever leave me."_

_"I Won't I Promise." Emily cried with every ounce of strength she had left. This wasn't the firs time she's made this promise to Zane, and it won't be the last._

_"Give up already, the kid flat lined. It's a lost cause, its been minutes," the assistant paramedic says to the determined paramedic who refuses to give up on reviving Emily. _

_The truck driver didn't stop after he struck Emily's car; a middle aged man called 911 after he visualized the whole thing while taking his nightly bike ride. _

_"There's no such thing as a lost cause, quiet," the determined paramedic snapped, as he shocked Emily's body yet again. "Come on kid." he whispered. He stared down at Emily's body hoping she comes back. _

_He's not sure of the extent of their injuries because both Emily and Zane were both unconscious when help arrived. _

_After one more shock, the monitor beeped and lines appeared as Emily woke up. The paramedic kissed a golden circle shaped medallion around his neck, and whispered a passionate "Thank You Jesus" up to the sky. "Hey. Hey, welcome back." he said calmly to Emily._

"_What's all though about a lost cause Jimmy?" He turned his head to jest to his partner, before turning back to Emily._

_Emily slowly blinked her eyes open only to quickly snap them shut. The giant bright light sent sharp pain waves straight to Emily's eyeballs. _

_"Where was I?" she barely manages to ask. Her throat felt very compact and tight which caused quite a lot of discomfort to talk. She attempted to get up but the paramedic grabbed her arms and guided her back down._

_"It's okay-" _

_"Where was I?" Emily interrupts. She moves her eyes to adjust to the harsh light and recognizes she's in an ambulance._

_"You just have to relax here," the paramedic orders softly. He glances out of the back window trying to gauge the distance to the hospital, but it was too dark outside to make anything out, not to mention the speed of which they were traveling. _

"_Jimmy we need to hurry, how long until we get to the hospital?" He whispers low enough so Emily wouldn't be able to hear. _

"_About another fifteen, you know that goddam bridge is on the other side of town. I still don't get why they built the damn thing, if people get hurt they have to drive thirty minutes to get some help." _

"_Just hurry please. They don't have time for monkey business," He said, worry evident in his tone._

_Emily's eyes shot open at the mention. _

_Monkey business… _

_Monkey business…_

_Monkey…_

_Why does that sound so-_

_Zane!_

"_What the hell are you doing"?_

"_No one baby sat me when I was eleven Zane"_

"_I'm twelve you bimbo"_

"_Nice ride"_

"_Here's my number, so call me maybe"_

"_Will you please shut up"?_

"_Zane stop, I'm driving"_

"_Watch it punk"_

_She knew the truck was coming, any second now…_

_She knew they were trapped_

_She knew this was going to be painful_

_She knew her small car never stood a chance_

_It all dawned on Emily as the memories of the night washed over her. The memories hit her hard, causing a deep gasp to escape her lips, which sent spirals down her spine. "Where's Zane?" she croaks._

_"Everything's okay but you need to stay still okay shh." The paramedic says soothingly._

_Emily turned her head to the left and saw a body lying next a few feet away from her. Her mind was in a state of disorder, and her body was idling as the minutes passed. She couldn't see the entire body due to the hazing of her eyes, the monitors crowding it, and the oxygen mask on its face but what she saw was enough. _

_Wait…_

_I know that arm_

_I'd know it anywhere_

_That's a monkey shaped-_

_"Zane?" she asks, and reaches out to tap the hand. She forced her body up a little more and yelled Zane's name again. "Zane" she said as tears began forming in her eyes. _

_How did this happen? How did I allow this to happen? Zane is hurt…_

_"Zane," she repeated forcefully, as if that would get her to wake up._

_She urges herself into a sitting position, disregarding all of the pain. The paramedic tried pushing her back, but she resisted, which resulted in a struggle. _

_"No. No. No. Please stop!" she whimpered. She wasn't a match for his strong arms but she resisted against him nonetheless. _

"_Calm down"-_

_"That's my sister" she interrupted. Emily began sobbing, still fighting to free her arms. "I can't leave her, I can't." she pleaded with the paramedic to understand. She slammed her body back down on the gurney with a little too much force and covered her face with her hands._

"_Hey, no one's leaving anybody_," _he vowed._

_"Oh my god. I'm so sorry Zane. I'm so sorry Zane," she cried. _

_Zane lied on the gurney completely still. She was covered in blood, cuts, and bruises. Despite that she looked so peaceful. Her youthful face was so relaxed despite its banged up state. _

"_Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Emily yelled through her tears. She yelled her little sisters name countless of times, and she got the same result each time: nothing. _

"_I don't know," the paramedic responded._

"_Why aren't you doing anything for her? I'm fine, you should be tending to her," She pointed out angrily, wincing as she began moving her arms to prove her point. _

_The paramedic closed his eyes briefly, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew, just by looking at Zane that her chances of survival were dwindling every second. "Look, you aren't doing her, or yourself any good by yelling." He said sternly. "And besides, you need to relax because you are not fine. Lay back down please" He said sternly._

_Emily didn't bother to object; she knew he was right. She closed her eyes, and prayed, for the first time in years. She fought against closing her eyes because she felt the darkness tugging at her. She needed to stay alert, she needed to make sure Zane was okay. _

_She promised._

"Jesus, this is just…wow. What the hell happened here?" Detective Ian asked as he approached his partner Detective Alex. He tapped Alex on the shoulder, notifying his presence.

The Rosewood Police department dispatched their immediate response team, which was led by Ian and Alex. They blocked all commute routes directly connected to the bride, and the lake. Their team set up shop on shore under the bridge, not too far from Emily's car.

Alex sipped his coffee mug, giving Ian a subtle head nod in greeting.

"The caller says the car got a double header by two trucks, one big rig, and one belonging to the city. Mangled the poor car." Alex explains, sipping his coffee once more before setting it on the ground.

"They started from there," He turns and points to the bridge, "flipped maybe twice, and ended there." He circles back, and points to Emily's damaged car.

"What type of sick son of a bitch would cause a collision like that," Ian seethes. Just by looking at the car, he knows the inhabitants were seriously injured, if not dead.

"Witness said both drivers were showing signs of inebriation. Speeding, disregard for traffic laws, etc." Alex says, approaching Emily's car.

There was a team made up of three officers examining the car, but Alex directed them to another task as he gave Ian the run down.

"The department cut the roof off, but the windshield is severed in two places, air bags deployed, and the passenger's door was immensely compressed, as that was the side of the second impact. Luckily the car landed mostly on shore, that saves a big headache."

Ian nodded solemnly. He felt for whoever was involved. Out of the two, Ian usually shows his feelings about cases, while Alex maintains a bit of a poker face, or a cavalier attitude. Something Ian admires about his partner. Many people in town think of Alex as an uncaring asshole, but Alex simply says its best to acknowledge feelings _after_ the case has been solved, that way he can focus solely on solving the case _during_.

"We put an APB out for the description given by the witness. This has the potential to be just a DUI hit and run, or this can turn into a homicide depending on the patients."

"Right, about that, any say about who the victims are?" Ian asks.

Alex fumbles with his coat pockets, searching for his small notepad. "Yo, guys, anyone seen my book?" He calls out to the team.

An officer jogs over and hands it to him. Mumbling a _thanks rookie_ he scans the notes he took when he initially arrived at the scene.

"Um," he murmurs whilst scanning the page. "Ah, here it is. Car belongs to one Emily Fields." He says.

"W-what?"

"Emily Fields." Alex repeats irritably. "Come on dude, you've gotta get a grip" He adds, grasping Ian's shoulder.

"No, I'm good. It's just that Melisa's little sister Spencer is her best friend. I better give them a call," he stammers.

"Alright man. After you wrap that up they need to finish searching the car, and you and I can talk to witness ourselves, and maybe head up to the hospital."

Emily woke up to burning white lights piercing her eyes. She squints painfully, trying to make out where she is She recognizes the dull gray walls as a room in Rosewood Memorial. She spent enough time in here as a little kid, to know that dreadful color gray anywhere. She tries to bring her hand to her forehead to comfort the burning sensation piercing her face, but was restrained by a series of wires on her hand. She tugs against them a few times, and then huffs and rips them off in frustration. She gently ran her fingers over the thread like structures keeping the skin above her eye together, and winced once she pressed too hard.

She needed to get out of there. She had to go find her mother, and her little sister. She needed to tell her mom that the entire accident was her fault, before Zane told her what happened. She did assure Zane that she would take the wrap. Emily slowly lifts herself up, and began turning her body, but quickly stops after she feels severe pain in her rib region. She closes her eyes tightly and gnaws down on her lip hard, to keep her from screaming. She places her right hand to her abdomen, and realizes she was no longer in her clothes from earlier; she now had on a white hospital gown.

She looks down at her exposed skin, and notices she has a brown ace bandaged tightly wrapped around her torso. She takes a deep breath, ignores the building pain, and continues to guide her body off the edge of the hospital bed. Her legs were now dangling off the side of the bed, and she held her breath and lurched her body to stand up. The pain shot threw Emily like a speeding bullet, which made her collapse back on the bed.

_Ouch_.

A young nurse entered the room, and immediately hurried to Emily, and sat her upright. "What were you thinking? You need to take it easy." The nurse shrieked, eyes widening comically. She straddled Emily's legs and lifted them back onto the hospital bed. "We didn't even know you were awake, let me go get your mother." She mumbled, and exited the room.

Literally, seconds later Pam darts into the room, with a relieved expression on her face. She slams into Emily, and holds her securely. Emily utters a painful groan, and proceeds to hug her mom back. Pam released Emily, and smiled sadly at her beat up daughter. She was so _relieved_ that Emily was okay, her mind automatically assumed the worst.

Emily looked down at her hands, afraid of looking her mother in the eye. All of this was her fault; because of Emily, both of her daughters were in the E.R hurting. When Emily finally got the courage to look at her mother, she immediately knew something was off. Pam looked as if she'd been crying. Her eyes were puffy, red, and she had this look in her eye that scared Emily.

_I haven't seen you cry since dad died. _

"Mom-," Emily began to murmur, but stopped. What exactly was she supposed to say here? She closed her eyes, and swallowed the lump in her throat, and continued. "I am so sorry. All of this is my fault, Zane had nothing to do with it okay, it was all me. I shouldn't of snuck out, and bribed Zane to tag along. So whatever she told you, is not what really happened," Emily said quietly.

She flickered her eyes to her hands, waiting for a response. Pam's reaction surprised Emily; she wasn't sure how to decipher it. She didn't know what to do.

She knew her mother would be concerned, and extremely disappointed in Emily, but _crying_? She hasn't seen in mother cry since Wayne died.

"Are you okay honey? What hurts?" She asks, quickly changing the subject. She softly grabs Emily's face and flashes a flashlight in her eyes, making sure her pupils were fine.

"You didn't check me out when I got here?" Emily asks startled.

Pam slowly shook her head, no. "N-no. I was partaking in a surgery."

"Everything hurts. Everywhere," Emily said, answering Pam's previous question.

"Hold on let me grab your file, I'll be right back sweetie." Pam assures, and briskly left the room.

As promised, she quickly returns with the file in her hand.

"It says here you have a grade three concussion, a fractured right wrist, a rib fracture, bruised collar bone, and the rest are just minor bruising, and scaring. The cut on your left eye region required stiches, and you had a pretty deep gash on your right thigh that also required stitches. " Pam says slowly, gasping at the lengthy list. She glances at Emily trying to contain her horrified expression.

Emily grows uneasy under her mother's frightened gaze. "How long will everything hurt?" Emily asks, cringing as she gave her body a lookover.

Pam slowly shrugs her shoulders. "It varies honey. Your injuries are spread out, and no injury is the same. The rib and wrist fracture will take the most time. Emily sighs, she hopes Zane's injuries aren't as bad.

"Where's Zane? I need to see her." Emily says, exhaustion settling in.

_Silence_

Pam clears her throat after a few moments, unsure of what exactly to tell Emily. "Zane is…a few rooms down. She just got out of surgery not to long ago, that's where I just came from actually." Pam said tentatively.

"How bad are her injuries? Emily whispered. She knows has a good fifty pounds on Zane and if she was banged up this badly, she can't even imagine what that accident did to Zane.

_What if she- _

_No, stop it. _

Pam bit her lip.

She grabs Emily's hands into her own, and takes a giant breath.

This is it.

Pam had no other choice.

"Honey. I'm sorry but Zane…didn't make it." Pam says and turns her head. A few tears fall from her eyes as she looks back at Emily. Pam knew telling Emily was going to be the hardest part. Her and Zane were _inseparable_.

Emily stared at Pam incredulously.

_What-_

_How-_

_Why-_

_What…_

After a few moments, Emily began shaking her head in denial. _No_, there was no way, her mother was telling her what she thought she was telling her. "What?" Emily whispered.

Pam gave Emily's hand a squeeze and went on. "Her injuries, were to extensive, by the time they recovered you guys from the lake and brought you in, her brain suffered too much swelling, and it caused her to go brain dead," Pam said through tears.

She tried being strong for Emily, she really did, but she couldn't hold back. Her little girl was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it, literally. The team of surgeons believed Zane was too far-gone, and they refused to operate. Pam, being head of the trauma department, ordered them to assist her. She did everything in her power, to reduce the brain swelling but it was too late. Zane's brain had no activity.

_The other surgeons insisted on calling time of death but Pam refused, refused, and refused. She just stood over her baby's lifeless, mangled body, with tear filled eyes, determined not to give up. She has to do something. So, she ran test after test, stitched up every scar, repaired any broken bones, she just kept going. How do you keep going when there is nothing left? _

_It got to the point where there was nothing left to do, or patch up, and one of the other doctors had to put an end to it. _

"_Doctor Fields, please. I'm sorry, but we have to call it, there is nothing else we can humanly do." Dr. Reynolds said softly, her voice full of caution, as she put a comforting arm on Pam. She knew Pam was a bit unstable, and she didn't want to do anything to upset her._

_Pam cocked her head to the side and locked eyes with Dr. Reynolds. In the rational part of her mind Pam knew Dr. Reynolds was right, but the irrational side of her, the __**human**__ side of her, the __**mother**__ inside of her could not give up._

"_Pam," Dr. Reynolds began, sympathetically. She abandoned any formal titles at this point. She did feel for Pam, Emily too, but she also knew they had to face the truth no matter how hard it is. "I'm speaking to you as a friend right now, you have to let go."_

_Pam shook her head. "No, I can't give up. If I give up, that means I've failed. I've failed her-" she paused and pointed at Zane. "And I cant do that anymore. I've failed her for years, and this can't be. I will __**not**__ just sit in the front seat and watch my little girl die."_

"_Look, I care about you beyond the entrance and exit signs to this building. You are not doing what's best for the patient medically. Your personal instinct is getting involved and-"_

"_Let me ask you something," Pam cut of violently. "As a mother yourself, if this was Garret laying here, what would your course of action be, __**doctor**__?" Pam fired at her, and took a meaningful step forward to look her right in the eyes._

_Dr. Reynolds narrowed her eyes at Pam, almost unbelieving. She couldn't imagine her little Gare-bear, Garret lying there, lifeless. "I-" she began, voice cracking. "I c-couldn't imagine," she croaked, defeated. _

_Pam looked around at the other team members in the room, gaging their expressions. They all had solemn like expressions, visibly unsure of what to do or say in this moment. Sensing no further objection, Pam ordered Zane to be put on life support until further notice, then stormed out of the room._

What killed Pam the most, is the fact that she held her little girls life in her hands, and she couldn't do anything to save it. So many what ifs entered her mind What if she drew more blood from her brain? Maybe it would have resumed regular activity flow. What if she wasn't a good enough surgeon? What if she didn't think of _every_ logical solution?

Perhaps she should of let another surgeon perform the operation, since her rational mind was not thinking very _rationally_. She had too close of a relationship with the patient, but she couldn't think of Zane as just a patient. She didn't conduct that surgery as a doctor operating on a patient. She conducted the surgery as a mom fighting for her little girl.

"No, mom. Please, tell me you are not saying what I think you are saying." Emily begged, as tears started falling. She withdrew her arms from her mother, and covered her face.

_No. No. No. No. _

"I did all I could but…it wasn't enough," Pam stuttered. "_As always_,

I wasn't enough," she cried.

Emily dropped her hands, and looked at her mother. "Y-you did the surgery?" She asked wearily.

Pam nodded solemnly, and quietly mouthed yes.

"And there was nothing you could do? This isn't just some patient mom, this is _Zane, _your team could have found something to save her," Emily said, completely devastated.

Pam felt as if someone kicked her in the gut. Emily was right, it was Pam and her team's job to save people, and she couldn't save one of the two most important people in her life. "It was too late," Pam, uttered.

"I can't believe it, Zane is dea-…I can't even say it." She chocked out. She brought her knees to her chest, ignoring any pain she felt. Any physical pain was non-existent compared to the emotional pain she was feeling. It was all her fault. If she wouldn't of disobeyed Pam, none of this would be happening.

"Can I see her, please?" Emily sobbed. She needed to see Zane, hold her, and let her know how sorry she was.

"Of course honey, do you want me to wheel you?" She asked.

"No." Emily answered. Any pain she felt from this moment on, was completely deserved.

Pam helped Emily get out of the bed, and threw her right arm over her neck, and slowly walked Emily across the hall to Zane's room.

Emily and Pam stopped at the doorway, and Emily unhooked her arm from her mother's neck. The sight in front of her made her sick. Zane had a giant blue life support tube going down her throat. She had another giant tube in her head, which Emily had no idea what it was for. Her face had cuts similar to Emily's; she had a deep gash on her face near her eye, just like Emily did. Her right arm was in a sling, and the skin there was a deep shade of purple. Zane looked so… _broken_.

Emily slowly limped to the chair sitting right next to Zane. She took the younger girls hand in her own and laid her head down on the bed. She bawled uncontrollably, at her sister's bedside. Seeing her in this condition made everything devastatingly real for Emily. She half expected Zane to be smiling vibrantly telling her _gotcha _when she walked in.

"Her heart is still beating-," Pam began to inform her, which caused Emily to jump. She winced; she didn't know Pam was still in the room. "…Which makes her technically alive, but once we disconnect the life support, her heart will stop on her own, and she will drift away," Pam added.

"So if I talk to her should could still hear me?" Emily asked desperately. She needed to tell Zane so much, in so little time.

"Yes, sweetheart, she will hear everything you say," Pam lied. She lied to Emily because she wanted Emily to get the closure she dreadfully deserved. As much as she hates to admit it, Emily was more of a mom to Zane than Pam could ever be. Pam knew it, Emily knew it, and Zane knew it. Pam hasn't been the same since her husband died. People respond differently while grieving, it just so happens to be that Pam is the type of person to _completely _shut down. She needed distractions, and her fast paste career as a trauma surgeon provided just that.

"I'm going to give you privacy to say goodbye," Pam said before exiting the room.

Emily got up, and carefully maneuvered herself into Zane's bed. She managed to squeeze her body behind Zane's. She wrapped both of her arms around her, and closed her eyes. "I am so very sorry, my little monkey, I am so sorry." She cried.

"I want you to know that okay? I never wanted anything like this to happen to you. It just happened so fast, one minute we were laughing, and the next; I wrapped myself around you to protect you from that truck." She husked. She thinks back to the moment before the inevitable impact and winces. She tried her very best to cover as much of Zane's body as possible.

"I just want you to know, you are the _best _little sister I could have ever asked for, no matter what I told you, you are always the best. You are a complete rock star. I would rather hang out with you than people my own age, did you know that?" She asked leaning closer.

So many things were racing through her brain it made her even weaker.

She had no idea what she was doing; she had no idea about what to say. So, she did the only thing she could, and that was talk about memories.

"You know, it still amazes me that you still remembered the time when dad and I taught you how to swim. You were three, maybe four years old? I will never forget that day. Dad carried you all the way from your room; you kicked your feet and cried the entire way, until he jumped with you into the pool. You screamed even though you were in no real danger, after a while I grabbed you from him, and you wouldn't go to dad for a week. It was that day when I held you afloat, that I promised, that I would never leave you. Every now and then, you would remind me of that day, and the promise I made." She said reminiscing.

"Ha, Remember when I stole mom's car keys and tried parking her car in the driveway? I told you to stand there and watch, but you insisted that you get in the passenger seat. You always were ready to do any, and everything with me, no matter how absurd it was. You didn't care, as long as it was you and I, whatever we got ourselves into was just fine. Any way, I ended up crashing straight into the garage, and putting a mighty dent it in. I remember looking at you in the passenger seat, you were laughing so much, tears were dripping from your eyes, you couldn't even talk. When you finally did say something, all you said was 'mom is _so_ going to kill you,' then you continued laughing."

"I will miss that…your laugh, the laugh that's been in my ear countless of times. The same laugh that I often joined in on. I will miss the way your eyebrows bunch together, and the way your nose wrinkled when you were _genuinely_ laughing." Emily paused, trying to gather herself to go on. A new sequence of tears exploded out of her eyes, as she realized she would never hear that laugh again. It's crazy how the little things such as the sound of someone's laugher, has such a heavy hold on your heart.

"I remember when you broke your arm not too long ago. I was so terrified the entire time when Spencer and I raced to get to you. Not being there, when you hurt yourself scared me so much. Even though, it was such a minor thing, I couldn't get rid of the fear. Just knowing you possibly _weren't_ okay tore me up inside. When I saw you lying there, my heart dropped. Again, even though it was minor, just the thought of losing you was too much. You taught me so much, Zane, possibly more than I taught you. I matured because of you, I worked my butt off, so we could make something out of ourselves. You are just…_everything_. Everything I've ever done has been, for _you_."

"How am I supposed to let you go? How am I supposed to continue on like everything will be okay? Everything _won't_ be okay. I can't imagine a world without you." Emily sobbed. Every word she was saying was nothing but the truth. Realistically, her and Zane _were_ all each other had. Her and Zane were the dream team, as they called themselves. Now that one half is gone, what is the other half supposed to do? There is no dream team, without both of them; there is no Emily, without Zane.

Emily grabbed Zane's arm, and gazed at that unique paw shaped birthmark, as memories drowned her. There have been so many times when she called the name "monkey" and Zane came running. There have been so many times when Zane made monkey noises, which made everyone in the room laugh. Its so absurd how something that began as a silly joked turned into a giant thing between them. No one understands the significance except Emily and Zane, that's one of the things that made it so great. It was something that banded them even close together.

Emily carefully lifted Zane's tan arm, and placed a feather light kiss to the birthmark. As soon as her lips came into contact with it, another wave of sobs wracked her body.

"Oh Zane," she whimpered. "What the hell am I going to do now? Why couldn't you just take me with you, huh? It wouldn't have mattered where we ended up, we would've been together, and that's all that matters."

"Emily," Pam's voice called.

Emily turned and saw Pam in the doorway.

"I have to remove the tube from her throat now, honey," Pam explained, fidgeting with her hands, as she approached Emily.

Emily closed her eyes tightly, and let go of Zane's arm. She eyed Zane's entire body, and looked back to her mother.

"Do I have to leave?" She finally asked after moments of heavy silence. If this was going to be Zane's last moments, she wanted be there up until the final second.

"No honey, it can just be the two of us. But once I take it off, after her body…flat lines, I have to take her to the morgue," Pam explained.

Emily nodded her head, and took a deep breath. She wrapped her arms around Zane, almost in a spoon like position. She began to lightly run her fingers over Zane. Feeling her thick hair, her innocent face that she will miss immensely, the feeling of Zane's scars under her skin, which will be forever imbedded in her memory. She continued down to Zane's heart, feeling that strong heartbeat which reminds her that even when it's all over, Zane is still a fighter.

Her hands once again find that monkey shaped birthmark on her arm. She stares at the emblem that will forever be on her mind. She doesn't want to tear her gaze away from it because when she does, she will never see it again, and _god_, she's just not ready.

It's as if looking away from this symbol signifies the end for them. Perhaps she didn't know this until this moment, but she realizes that Zane's birthmark represents so much, for the both of them. Its wacky, it's original, it's special, all the things that makeup the relationship between Emily and Zane. She presses one last kiss to the birthmark that it so simple, but means the world to her, just as Pam whispers a broken, "_it's time"_

"I love you so much, Zane. I just want to thank you, thank you for becoming a part of my life. Without you I wouldn't be who I am today. Thank you for making me smile when I felt down, thank you for teaching me what being a woman is, and thank you for being my motivation to get out of bed every morning." Emily bent her head and whispered in Zane's ear, as Pam began to walk to the other side of the bed.

Pam reaches for the tape on both sides of Zane's mouth, and-

"Wait" Emily pleads, "Just hold on…please. A few more minutes." She begs. She can't contain her tears, and Pam can't either.

"I will think about you every second, of every minute, of everyday until the day I die. You will always be my monkey, and I will never forget you. I will miss you so much Zane. It is my only hope that despite-" she says, but succumbs to a wave of sobs. This sentence she has prepared will be of the hardest she will ever have to say. "Despite this being my fault that you are dying, I hope you can find the space in the big, lovely heart of yours to forgive me." She choked

"No. Emily don't say that honey," Pam insists.

"Mom, no, just… please." Emily says blankly.

Pam sighs dejectedly, and resumes taking the tape off of Zane's mouth. Once the tape is removed, Pam slowly pulls the tube out of Zane's mouth until it is all the way out, and places it on the table.

Zane's mouth is wide open, and Emily cant help but let a sob-filled laugh escape her mouth. It reminds her of the many times Zane has fallen asleep will her mouth hanging open.

_The same Zane up until the very end. _

Zane's body squirms a little, and her arms put light pressure on Emily's arms.

"Mom!" Emily screeches, "Did you see that?" Emily gasped. Maybe this isn't the end after all? What if somehow a miracle happens and Zane wakes up?

"Yes, its very common for the bodies to take one last movement before, -" she trails off. She didn't want to give Emily any type of false hope. Pam could see the hopefulness seep into Emily's eyes.

Emily places a kiss to Zane's forehead, just as a heart dropping flat line sound rings from the machine next to them. Emily- for the second time- feels as if time is in slow motion, and she lifts her head towards her mother, then to the machine, and finally back to Zane. The sound is amplified one hundred times in Emily's ears; it's consuming her. In this moment, she realizes she _hates_ beeping noises, because now on, every time she hears one, she will be brought back to _this_ moment.

She lays her head on Zane's head and holds her every so tightly, hoping that if she holds tight enough, Zane won't fade away. Maybe if she begs hard enough some higher power will have mercy on them and and she can come back. Or maybe, just maybe, if Zane knows just _how much_ Emily needs her in her life, she can fight, and live.

She doesn't even notice her mother joining in on the embrace until she feels hot tears from fall on her arm.

"I have to get her down to the basement floor, so my team and I can start the process." Pam explains.

But Emily doesn't want to let go, because if she lets go then that means that she's lost. It means that once Zane leaves this room, she will never see her again. And that thought alone, kills her. She still doesn't understand how she's supposed to say goodbye.

Pam nudges Emily's arms around Zane, silently telling her that despite the pain, and the denial, she has to let Zane go, physically right now.

With surprising strength, she relents, and slowly retracts her arms. She stands next to Zane, and pushes back a few lose strands of hair.

_This is it. _

She cups Zane's face and kisses her forehead one final time, and barely manages to whisper the last thing Zane will ever hear from her.

"I love you monkey, I promise, I will never leave you."


End file.
